Vietnamese MPS delegation attends 44th ASEANAPOL Conference

The conference brought together 270 delegates, including police chiefs and senior law enforcement officials from the 11 ASEAN member states, dialogue partners, observers, and the ASEANAPOL Secretariat.

In his opening remarks, Philippine Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Juanito Victor C. Remulla Jr. reaffirmed the Philippines’ commitment to working alongside Southeast Asian police forces by enhancing information sharing, operational coordination, and capacity building to combat transnational crime.

During the conference, delegates focused on emerging regional crime trends, including drug trafficking, terrorism, arms trafficking, wildlife trafficking, human trafficking, financial crime, high-tech crime, and criminal activities operating out of scam centers.

They also addressed the management and operation of the ASEANAPOL Secretariat, as well as ongoing regional initiatives aimed at further strengthening law enforcement cooperation and reinforcing ASEANAPOL’s long-term role in maintaining peace, security, and stability across Southeast Asia.

At the conclusion of the conference, the heads of the police delegations signed the Joint Communiqué of the 44th ASEANAPOL Conference. The communiqué incorporates numerous key consensus items, particularly on strengthening and enhancing the role of the ASEANAPOL Secretariat in coordinating regional law enforcement cooperation.

Furthermore, the conference adopted a range of initiatives, roadmaps, and cooperative strategies to combat crime among ASEAN member states. Key outcomes included the establishment of the ASEANAPOL Anti-Scam Task Force (ASCOT), the implementation of the KARE Initiative, study visits to observe online anti-fraud models in member countries, a Joint Action Plan between ASEANAPOL and the Gulf Cooperation Council Police (GCCPOL), and the expansion of key domains within the ASEAN Police Forensic Science Network.

On the sidelines of the event, Lieutenant General Tran Minh Tien held separate bilateral meetings with Commissioner of the New Zealand Police Richard Chambers; Deputy Commissioner General of Japan’s National Police Agency Tachikawa Koichi; Director General of the International Cooperation Bureau and Head of INTERPOL Seoul (Korean National Police Agency) Park Jun-sung; Director of the Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Directorate at the UK National Crime Agency Javid Oomer; Deputy Director General of the International Cooperation Bureau at China's Ministry of Public Security Jiang Shui; and Commander Asia-Pacific for the Australian Federal Police Craig Palmer.

During these separate engagements, the Vietnamese  delegation and the attending delegation highly commended the achievements in bilateral police cooperation, particularly in joint case investigations, the pursuit and extradition of wanted fugitives, and capacity-building training programs. They also expressed a mutual desire to further deepen practical cooperation across all areas, contributing to peace, security, and safety for citizens in their respective nations.