THE 29TH JOINT ASEAN SENIOR POLICE OFFICERS’ COURSE HANOI, VIETNAM (20-24 JUNE 2022)

The 29^th Joint ASEAN Senior Police Officers’ Course (JASPOC) was conducted in Hanoi, Vietnam from the 20 – 24 June 2022 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. This event was organized and hosted by The Office of Investigation Police Agency (OIPA), Ministry of Public Security (MPS), Vietnam.

It was attended by delegations of the respective ASEANAPOL Member Countries (AMCs) namely Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF), Cambodian National Police (CNP), Indonesian National Police (INP), Lao Police Force (LPF), Myanmar Police Force (MPF), Philippine National Police (PNP), Singapore Police Force (SPF), Royal Thai Police (RTP) and The OIPA, MPS, Vietnam while ASEANAPOL Secretariat (AS) was represented by Superintendent of Police Jacky Tang Yik Tung, AS’s Director for Plans & Programmes (DPP).  

During the first day ceremony, DPP was invited to give an Opening remark in which he briefed a short history of the JASPOC dated back in 1991 where it was initially proposed at the 11^{th ASEANAPOL Conference held in Singapore. After much deliberation and endorsement during the Conference, Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) finally agreed to organize the 1st JASPOC in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.}

JASPOC was an initiative by the Chiefs of Police to share expertise, knowledge, intelligence and to cultivate understanding, cooperation, and togetherness amongst the Police forces in ASEAN. Since the inception of JASPOC, the courses organizers had equipped the police personnel in ASEAN with various skills, knowledge and had strengthen the network and bond amongst the participants of the courses. 

Pol. Lieutenant General Do Van Hoanh, the Director General of The OIPA, Ministry of Public Security, Socialist Republic of Vietnam gave his Opening remarks to welcome officers from the representatives of the AS and also from the AMCs. In his speech, he reminded that the goals of building the ASEAN Community, ASEANAPOL is an important cooperation mechanism in the fight against Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) amongst AMCs. In order to fulfill the task of ASEANAPOL, in September 2019, Vietnam hosted the 39^th ASEANAPOL Conference which had successfully adopted many significant decisions affirming the commitment to cooperate in TOC prevention and suppression to depl oy many law enforcement cooperation efforts in the region and internationally.

The 29^th JASPOC focuses on the theme “International cooperation and Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) in criminal matters in the ASEAN region” with the participation of guest speakers from the Supreme People's Procuracy, Professional Units of the MPS, Vietnam and a number of international partners. It was anticipated that participants would equip themselves with more information about the TOC situations around the world and in particular our region as well as the status of international cooperation and the implementation of MLA in criminal matters among countries in the ASEAN region. At the same time, it was with hope that participants would spend time exchanging and sharing practical experience in the fight against crime to enhance mutual understanding and enhance closer cooperation between the Police forces of AMCs in particular and between ASEANAPOL and its partners in general.

The Closing ceremony remarks were given by DPP on the second day then followed by Senior Colonel Truong Tho Toan, Deputy Director General of OIPA, Vietnam. During the past two days, a lot of information were shared on TOC; the modus operandi and experience in fighting against crimes such as human trafficking, cybercrime, drug trafficking and much discussion on the international cooperation in fighting against crime; the MLA and extradition in ASEAN region.

Part of the course agenda on the third day was a visit to the People’s Police Academy (PPA) on the last day where delegates were welcomed by Senior Colonel Tran Họng Quang, Vice President of PPA, OIPA. There was a session of ‘Q and A’ between officers and tour of the PPA’s museum.

The 29^th JASPOC had successfully concluded with a remarkable outcome. In this regard, all participants will take this knowledge to share, discuss, contribute and propose new resolutions to curb MLA and other related issues within our region in order to keep our territories safe. Secretariat office always looks forward to constantly support member countries and likewise seeks AMCs to continue its collaboration with Secretariat office on all matters combating TOC.