ASEAN committed to combating cross-border crime - Zahid

The 11th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC) and Related Meetings which ended here Thursday achieved encouraging success on the efforts and actions to tackle cross-border crime, said Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister said the biennial meeting proved to be the "best platform" for the ASEAN member states to speak up and provide proactive proposals in championing the common regional and international interests.

"We achieved several major decisions in terms of not only sharing intelligence information but also taking drastic action on the prevention and combating of the crime and the enforcement measures through cooperation among the ASEAN countries which are committed to addressing cross-border crime," he said to Malaysian journalists after the conclusion of the 11th AMMTC which convened from Tuesday to Thursday.

Ahmad Zahid said all the ASEAN member states agreed to hold the meeting annually to show their commitment that cross-border crime should be addressed immediately and not allowed to fester until it weakened the region.

"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.