General Vilay Lakhamfong (right), General To Lam (centre) and Mr Sar Sokha on stage during the meeting in Vietnam.

Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia step up joint fight against crime

The governments of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia have pledged to strengthen cooperation in tackling crime, especially with regard to the drug trade and human trafficking.
Their partnership in these efforts was the topic of discussion at a recent meeting in Vietnam. The Lao delegation was led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Security, General Vilay Lakhamfong, and welcomed by Vietnamese Minister of Public Security General To Lam.
The meeting was also attended by Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Mr Sar Sokha.
The three delegations discussed areas of cooperation between their respective ministries throughout the remainder of 2024.
The Lao, Cambodian and Vietnamese ministers took turns outlining their stance on global, regional and domestic situations, and agreed to strengthen the relationship and cooperation between the three ministries.
The meeting was regarded as highly significant in accelerating inter-government cooperation in the fight against human trafficking and the burgeoning drug trade in the region.
It will strengthen public security and contribute to the defence of peace in the border regions of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
The meeting was also a good opportunity for delegations from the three ministries and officials from provinces with shared borders to meet and share lessons and experiences.
Their talks were seen as productive in moving forward efforts to curb and combat all forms of criminal activity for the common benefit of the three countries.
The three ministers issued a joint statement with regard to seven important issues concerning cooperation on the maintenance of peace and order so as to ensure stability and the continuing socio-economic development of their respective countries.
The statement referred to the need to deal effectively with various ongoing challenges to peace, including transnational crimes that are escalating in the region and internationally, which are hindering the revitalisation of economic and social progress in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
In addition, the document served to cement the outcomes of discussions between the top leaders of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam that took place on September 6, 2023, in Hanoi, which recognised the need for the three countries to broaden their cooperation.
The statement also spelled out the decisions made at meetings held between the Minister of the Interior of Cambodia, the Minister of Public Security of the Lao PDR and the Minister of Public Security of Vietnam, which took place in 2011, 2014 and 2022.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update April 2, 2024)