Minister Luong Tam Quang attends opening ceremony of 19th AMMTC

The opening ceremony of AMMTC 19 solemnly took place on the afternoon of September 9 in Melaka city, Malaysia, with the attendance of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who delivered welcome remarks.

This year’s AMMTC 19 brought together the ASEAN Secretary-General, Ministers and Heads of delegations from security, police and home affairs agencies of ASEAN member states, three dialogue partners and Timor Leste.

In his opening remarks, Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail emphasized the importance of the AMMTC mechanism in promoting regional cooperation in combating transnational crime, thereby contributing to building a peaceful, prosperous and resilient ASEAN Community.

On this occasion, the Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs highlighted four key cooperation initiatives proposed and actively promoted by Malaysia with strong support from ASEAN member states, including strengthening cooperation in combating human trafficking and illegal migration; establishing a Working Group of the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC) on anti-money laundering and developing SOMTC’s work plan in this area; drafting the ASEAN Plan of Action (PoA) on Combating Transnational Crime for the 2026–2035 period; and finalizing the SOMTC Work Programme for the 2026–2028 period.

Within the framework of AMMTC 19, a plenary session among ASEAN member states and consultation meetings with the three ASEAN dialogue partners — China, Japan and the Republic of Korea — are scheduled to take place on September 10–11, 2025.