Asean leaders meeting a success
> Major decisions made to share intelligence and adopt action to fight cross-border crime, says Zahid
MANILA: The 11th Asean Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC) and related meetings that ended here yesterday achieved encouraging success on efforts and actions to address cross-border crime, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said the biennial meeting proved to be the “best platform” for Asean member states to speak up and provide proactive proposals in championing common regional and international interests.
“We achieved several major decisions not only on sharing of intelligence but also on taking drastic action on prevention and enforcement measures through cooperation among Asean countries which are committed to addressing cross-border crime,” he told Malaysian journalists.
Ahmad Zahid said all Asean member states agreed to hold the meeting annually, in line with their commitment that cross-border crime should be addressed immediately and not allowed to fester until it weakened the region, Bernama reported.
“Asean member states are committed to combating cross- border crime and militants immediately because we realise that the matter can have a profound effect on the people and the region,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid said Asean also understood that cross-border crime was no longer in its conventional form, and that it was rapidly changing with the use of technology and information.
One of the effects of crossborder crime was the stress on the people’s financial system, which led to other crimes such as moneylaundering and cyber crimes, he added.
He also said that two of Asean’s dialogue partners, Japan and China, which also attended the meetings, expressed desire and commitment to help Asean overcome issues related to cross-border crime.
Three leaders – from Vietnam, Japan and Singapore – called on Ahmad Zahid on the sidelines of the AMMTC.
At the meeting with Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Public Security, Senior Lt-Gen Le Quy Vuong, Ahmad Zahid raised the issue of a rise in the cases of encroachment by Vietnamese fishermen in Malaysian waters.
He also proposed that Vietnam sign the International Transfer of Prisoners Treaty as Malaysian prisons held about 700 Vietnamese nationals.
At the meeting with the Japan Minister of State for Disaster Management, Hachiro Okonogi, Ahmad Zahid said the government of Japan expressed interest in learning the best practices of Malaysia’s security control during the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games recently, in preparation for Japan’s hosting of the Olympic Games in 2020.
In his meeting with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office of Singapore, Josephine Teo, Ahmad Zahid discussed bilateral and regional security issues.