BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

A DELEGATION of senior officers from the Brunei government is in Cambodia for the 15th ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting in Transnational Crime and Its Related Meetings (SOMTC).

The delegation is led by the Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Dato Paduka Hj Hamdan Hj Abu Bakar.

The meeting is held from June 7 until June 12, a press statement from the PMO revealed yesterday.

During the meeting, the statement said, senior ASEAN leaders agreed to adapt certain measures as a way forward, including the endorsement of the draft ASEAN Convention on Trafficking of Persons Especially Women and Children and the ASEAN Plan of Action to combat Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children.

The statement added that issues relating to transnational crimes including terrorism and human trafficking as well as how countries can work together to tackle them were also discussed during the meeting, with the aim to preserve peace and stability within the ASEAN region.

Leaders also had preparatory discussions for the upcoming Special ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Rise of Radicalisation and Violent Extremism to be held in September and the Special ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Illegal Movement of Persons in July.

Both meetings will be held in Malaysia, while the next SOMTC will be held in Indonesia next year, the statement added. Waqiuddin Rajak The Brunei Times