Kuala lumpur: The 19th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC) and related meetings today agreed to present three ASEAN Leaders' Declarations, endorsed yesterday, at the 47th ASEAN Summit in October. Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail stated that the declarations address key issues such as money laundering, cooperation in locating and arresting criminal fugitives, and the use of sports to build societal resilience against extremism.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Malaysia is leading the declaration to combat money laundering, aiming to strengthen regional financial integrity. Meanwhile, Vietnam has proposed enhancing regional cooperation in tracking and arresting criminal fugitives, noting that perpetrators of transnational crimes are sometimes found in ASEAN countries. The third declaration, initiated by Indonesia, focuses on using sports as a means to combat extremism.

In addition to these declarations, Saifuddin Nasution announced that AMMTC has agreed to remove maritime piracy and international economic crime from the priority list for the next session. The focus will now shift to addressing cybercrime, particularly online scams, which cause significant financial losses each year. Despite the ongoing presence of piracy, notably in eastern Sabah where kidnap-for-ransom incidents were once common, ASEAN countries have decided to prioritize the fight against online scams.