On 28 February 2024, ASEANAPOL Executive Director David Martinez Vinluan warmly welcomed Mr. Paul Ruby and Ms. Angeline Ng to the Secretariat. The purpose of the visit was to discuss potential areas of collaboration between France and ASEANAPOL.
Mr.
Paul Ruby is the Deputy Regional Police Attache fro Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Timor-Lest and representative of the International Security Cooperation Directorate of the France Embassy in Singapore. The ASEANAPOL Secretariat was represented by the following officers: ACP Dr. Bakri bin Zainal Abidin, Director of Police Services; Police Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Huu Ngoc, Director of Plans and Programmes; DSP Suresh Subramaniam, Plans and Programmes Officer I; and ASP Engku Nurul ‘Aini Engku Malek, Plans and Programmes Officer II.
The meeting began with ASEANAPOL Secretariat providing an overview of its current structure, highlighting the organization's focus on ten core crime areas, its collaboration with 12 Dialogue Partners (DPs), 11 Observer Organizations (OBs) and active partnership with like-minded organizations.
In response, Mr. Ruby emphasized France’s commitment to strengthening collaboration with ASEANAPOL through various means, including: Information Exchange: France expressed its willingness to share information and expertise with ASEANAPOL; Capacity Building: France is prepared to offer capacity building training (CBT) programmes tailored to the needs of ASEANAPOL member countries (AMCs); Seminars: France announced plans to organize two seminars in 2024, one each in Singapore and Malaysia, for representatives from all AMCs. These seminars will likely focus on areas of mutual interest; and Countering child pornography: France highlighted its expertise in combating child pornography and offered assistance to ASEANAPOL in this area.
Mr. Ruby also expressed France’s interest in transitioning from its current Observer Organization (OB) status to Dialogue Partner (DP) status with ASEANAPOL. The Executive Director of ASEANAPOL acknowledged the request and will commence the process for the consensus of the 10 Chief of ASEAN Police Organizations.
The meeting concluded with a discussion on the role of ASEANAPOL in disseminating information from France on Transnational Organised Crime (TOC) to the AMCs, with both parties expressing to explore further avenues for collaboration, including information exchange, capacity building initiatives, and joint seminars.
“Together We Keep This Region Safe”