The 80 th General Assembly of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) will be held in Hanoi from October 31 to November 4, drawing 1,000-1,200 participants from 188 Interpol member counties.

Major-General Vu Hung Vuong, Deputy Head of the General Department for Crime Prevention, said on September 27 that hosting the Interpol General Assembly affirms Vietnam ’s commitment to international cooperation in transnational crime prevention.

According to Colonel Dang Xuan Khang, Chief of the Interpol Vietnam Office, at the first to be held in Vietnam , under the theme of “Connecting Police for a Safer World – Strong Partnerships, Innovation and Capacity Building ”, the 80 th Interpol General Assembly will be a special diplomatic activity of the Vietnamese police force in 2011.

The General Assembly will assess the implementation of Interpol’s crime prevention resolutions, working plans and programmes, as well as offer a chance for member countries to exchange experience in fighting transnational crime.

It will set out the organisation’s future goals in line with globalisation and international integration and approve resolutions on police cooperation in transnational crime prevention.

In 1991, Vietnam became the 156 th member of Interpol. During 20 years of operations, the Interpol Vietnam force has received and handled 45,000 items of information, including 12,000 relating to the international search for criminals.

Through Interpol channels, Vietnamese police have arrested and handed over more than 200 wanted persons to foreign police forces and coordinated with foreign police in the arrest and extradition of 49 Vietnamese criminals to the homeland./.