ASEAN committed to fighting trans-national crime

The 10th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC) and its related meetings concluded on October 1 with the adoption of the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on combating transnational crime.

The declaration was signed by the ministers and delegation heads from the 10 ASEAN member countries, including Vietnamese Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang.

The ASEAN leaders, through the declaration, agreed AMMTC should be convened on an annual basis since trans-national crimes are on the rise with the emergence of new crimes.

They also agreed to preserve ASEAN's central role and the region's interest in relation to regional frameworks and mechanisms as well as expand the scope of each responsibility when necessary. Meanwhile, ASEAN will also encourage the effective implementation of relevant provisions on transnational crimes identified in the post-2015 ASEAN Political-Security Council.

They will strive to strengthen the capacity of the criminal justice system, including judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials within ASEAN, and with relevant regional and international organisations.

Also listed in the declaration was the readiness by all members to collaborate and implement effective information with relevant stakeholders.

According to the secretariat's statement, the signed Kuala Lumpur Declaration in Combating Transnational Crime will reflect renewed and continuous commitments by ASEAN to deal with the issue.-VNA