On August 14, 2023, a virtual meeting took place between the Coordination Desk for the Asia and South Pacific region within INTERPOL's Global Outreach and Regional Support (GORS) and the ASEANAPOL Secretariat, aimed at strengthening collaboration to address the challenges faced by law enforcement agencies within the ASEAN region.
INTERPOL was represented by Ms. Zhu YingHua, Head
of the Coordination Desk for the Asia and South Pacific region of INTERPOL's Global Outreach and Regional Support (GORS-NCBASP), along with delegates from the ASEANAPOL Secretariat (AS). The AS representatives include Pol. Brig. Gen. Zaw Lin Tun (Executive Director), Police Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Huu Ngoc (Director of Plans and Programmes), ACP Dr. Bakri Zainal Abidin (Director of Police Services), DSP Suresh Subramaniam (Plans and Programmes Officer I), and DSP Chan Yew Hiok (Police Services Officer I).
The meeting has been initiated by Ms. Zhu YingHua, who introduced the INTERPOL Global Outreach and Regional Support Directorate and emphasized the pivotal role of the Coordination Desk for the Asia and South Pacific region. She highlighted the potential for collaboration with ASEANAPOL to effectively deploy INTERPOL's initiatives in the Asia Pacific region, particularly within the ASEAN region.
In response, Pol. Brig. Gen. Zaw Lin Tun, the Executive Director of the ASEANAPOL Secretariat, reaffirmed ASEANAPOL's unwavering commitment in enforcing the UN sustainable development goals and aligning them with INTERPOL's Global Policing Goals. He expressed a strong interest in enhancing the collaboration between the ASEANAPOL Secretariat and various directorates within INTERPOL. Such collaborative approaches would focus on capacity building, information exchange, intelligence sharing, and coordinated efforts in combating transnational crimes.
The key discussions of the meeting are focused on the following topics:
(1) Proposing initiatives aimed at enhancing capacity and creating tailor-made training programmes for the member countries of ASEANAPOL;
(2) Support for the development of the INTERPOL/ASEANAPOL Communication and Coordination Protocol for Crisis Management (ACCPM) alongside the e-ADS Mobile Application;
(3) Exploring the potentials for joint operations between INTERPOL/ASEANAPOL with a focus on countering transnational crimes. Such operations would include areas of terrorism, illicit drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms smuggling, wildlife crimes, fraudulent travel documents, commercial crime, maritime fraud, and transnational fraud within the ASEAN region.
The meeting concluded with both parties expressing their gratitude for their active participation and shared commitment for future collaborations.