3rd AMMTC+3, 2007

Joint Communiqué of the Third ASEAN Plus Three Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC+3)

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam  7 November 2007

  1. We, the Ministers of ASEAN Member Countries, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea responsible for transnational crime cooperation convened the Third ASEAN Plus Three Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC+3) in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam on 7 November 2007. The Meeting was preceded by a Preparatory ASEAN Plus Three Senior Officials Meeting for AMMTC+3 held in the morning of 7 November 2007.
  2. We noted the strong commitment and determination reflected in the statements made by the Ministers of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, which further reaffirmed the need for close cooperation in our efforts to combat transnational crime.
  3. We recalled the ASEAN + 3 Leaders’ commitment at the 10th ASEAN + 3 Summit in Cebu, the Philippines, in January 2007, in accelerating the establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015 and the importance of continued interaction and engagement with Dialogue Partners and other parties in implementing the programme measures in the Vientiane Action Programme (VAP) for the ASEAN Security Community.
  4. We were pleased to note the significant progress of ASEAN’s efforts in combating transnational crime through the consolidated cooperation and provision of assistance to ASEAN by Dialogue Partners, in particular the Plus Three Countries.
  5. We held a Retreat to exchange views on strengthening ASEAN + 3 cooperation in combating transnational crime focusing on the emerging challenges of cyber-crime and its strong linkages to other transnational crime for example terrorism and trafficking-in persons. We agreed that ASEAN Member Countries could leverage on the vast experience and expertise of the Plus Three countries in this area particularly in state-of-the art technology transfer and human capacity development.
  6. We agreed that to ensure effective implementation of the ASEAN + 3 Work Plan to Combat Transnational Crime, a study needs to be undertaken to identify clear modalities of implementation and priority projects.
  7. We welcomed the kind offer of the Royal Government of Cambodia to host the Fourth AMMTC + 3 in 2009.
  8. We expressed our appreciations to the Government and the people of Brunei Darussalam for the excellent arrangements made for the Meeting and for the warm hospitality accorded to us and our respective delegations. We also expressed our appreciations to the ASEAN Secretariat for its invaluable assistance to the Meeting.