Australia – Vietnam Police Partnership Addresses Corruption Fraud and Foreign Briberty in Asia

Corruption fraud and foreign bribery are global problems which damage economic development, undermine fair competition and exacerbate inequality and injustice and can have disastrous consequences for the world’s most vulnerable economies.

A long-term partnership between the Australian Federal Police and Police General Department on Crime Prevention and Suppression, Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam will provide an important platform for police experts from 19 countries in South and South East Asia to cooperate share knowledge, skills, methodologies and case studies to strengthen international police cooperation in addressing these serious transnational organised crimes of corruption, fraud and foreign bribery.

The 33rd Asia Region Law Enforcement Management Program (ARLEMP) focuses specifically on the themes of Corruption, Fraud and Foreign Bribery commences at RMIT University in Hanoi today, and involves 20 law enforcement officials from 17 countries in the Asia region. ARLEMP is an innovative three-week training program which builds police cooperation to address cross-border crimes.

In the past eight years, over 600 police and law enforcement officials from 25 countries including South Asia, South East Asia and Australia have participated in the unique program, including over 200 Vietnamese police focusing on topics such as drug trafficking, money laundering, cyber-crime, terrorism and human trafficking.

Speaking at the Opening Ceremony, Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr Hugh Borrowman, said; ‘Many of today’s serious crimes have complicated international roots. We realise it is impossible for individual law enforcement agencies to combat crime alone. Governments, the private sector, non-governmental organisations and citizens around the world are joining forces, and ARLEMP provides an opportunity for police forces to work together, share ideas and build trust.’

Commander Chris McDevitt, the Australian Federal Police Senior Liaison Officer based in Hanoi, said; ‘Fighting corruption, fraud and foreign bribery is a global concern. Crimes are no longer confined to national borders. ARLEMP provides an important opportunity for collaboration which is critical in promoting transnational cooperation for the active prevention, investigation and detection of the increasingly sophisticated transnational crimes of corruption, fraud and foreign bribery.’

Declaring the official opening of ARLEMP 33, Major General Nguyen Phong Hoa, Deputy Director General of the Police General Department on Crime Prevention and Suppression, Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam noted; ‘The cooperation between Vietnamese Police and the Australian Federal Police provides an opportunity for police from across the region to join together, share experiences and build relationships, in order to enhance the effectiveness of combating transnational crimes in general and corruption and commercial fraud crime in particular’.

Professor Gael McDonald, president of RMIT Vietnam also shared "We are proud to continue to work with AFP and Vietnamese government in delivering this unique multicultural program that builds on the decade long transnational experience of RMIT in Vietnam. What we have witnessed is that after three weeks of intense cooperative learning, participants raise their level of respect, mutual understanding their ability to collaborate across borders on a number of policing issues. Many of the over 600 alumni from the program have become key agents of positive change within their organisations. I wish the same success to the incoming cohort".

For more information, please contact: Ms Pham Ha, [[email protected] and phone 04 37740204]