In the prestigious setting of the Postgraduate School for Police Forces a meeting took place yesterday that saw together the Deputy Director General of Public Security in charge of Coordination and Planning of the Police Forces, Prefect Alessandra Guidi, representing the head of the Police Prefect Franco Gabrielli, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ambassador Elisabetta Belloni, the Executive Director of ASEANAPOL, Dac Wee Aik Boon Jim, and the accredited Ambassadors in Italy of the ASEAN countries.
This is the first event towards the construction of transnational security cooperation between Italy and the ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) which sees the Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs. It is in fact the first moment of political and strategic confrontation after the acceptance of Italy as ASEAN's development partner, which formally took place on the occasion of the 53rd Conference of ASEAN Foreign Ministers, last 9 September. This is a crucial result achieved by the Farnesina as part of a strategy of strengthened presence in the region.
The new status of Development Partner strengthens the position and visibility of our country in the Indo-Pacific Region, where more than 30% of the world's maritime traffic transits daily, giving us a role of leading interlocutor and expanding our capacities for action. political, economic and commercial aspects of Italy in an area of increasing importance in the context of global balances. The partnership will develop according to an action plan that includes our interventions in the field of protection of cultural heritage, the environment, renewable energy and of course safety.
Collaboration with Southeast Asia is today a priority for strengthening security in the Region, a fundamental prerequisite for social and economic development.
A structured collaborative approach was outlined and shared with ASEAN partners. The pace will be tight and, as early as next November, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with the Department of Public Security, will host the police chiefs of the ten ASEAN and ASEANAPOL countries.
In the future, it is also aimed at a common training between members of the respective Police Forces, through specific training courses. The themes of the main security challenges will be developed, such as: organized crime, international terrorism, drug trafficking, cybercrime, cybercrime.
The initiative is ambitious and articulated and the first reactions of our partners in the region reveal a convergence of intentions which suggests interesting and positive developments in collaboration between our countries.