Australian Embassy
Vietnam

Media Release - 14/02/2017

Law Enforcement Officers Focus on Transnational Financial Investigations

Twenty six Law Enforcement Officers from South Asia, South East Asia, North Asia, the Middle East, Australia and Europe will be in Hanoi for the following three weeks for the 42nd Asia Region Law Enforcement Management Program (ARLEMP). The officers will study management, communication and cultural topics along with developing their skills in investigating transnational financial crime.

ARLEMP is a long-term partnership between the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security through the General Department of Police (GDP), the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and RMIT University in Vietnam. Originating in 2005, ARLEMP has become a flag-ship program for emerging Police managers and leaders in the region. Over 830 Law Enforcement Officers have graduated from the course since its inception and are working together to combat transnational crimes in our region.

This ARLEMP welcomes a new partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs on Crime (UNODC) office in Hanoi, and welcomes back the National Police of the Netherlands who officially became partners in 2016. All partners are committed to promoting cooperation between police agencies, searching for the best practices, supporting information exchange and working together to combat transnational crime.

The overarching theme of this program is Financial Investigations (money laundering and associated crimes). Money laundering is at the centre of organised crime. With deepening globalisation and with advances in the internet, digital communication, ease of international travel and integrated financial systems, financial crime continues to be a global crime, and one that is at the heart of many other crimes such as cyber-crime as well as narcotic, human and wildlife trafficking.

During the Opening Ceremony this week, Law enforcement Officials and representatives from the governments of Vietnam, the Netherlands and Australia reiterated the importance of interagency cooperation, the seriousness of financial crime, the flow on effect these crimes have for our communities; and, above all, that it is up to everyone, working as global partners in law enforcement to work with our communities to tackle financial crime.

The opening of ARLEMP was officiated by Major General Pham Van Cac, Deputy Director General, General Department of Police, Ministry of Public Security. ARLEMP 42 will host participants from Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.