New vigor was given to the strengthening of bilateral collaboration with Malaysia and Singapore, and multilateral with ASEAN, thanks to 5 days of meetings with the top police authorities, held in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore from 17 to 21 April. A delegation of the Department of Public Security, led by the Senior Executive of the State Police Eufemia Esposito, Director of the International Relations Service of the Office for the Coordination and Planning of the FF.PP., carried out a technical visit to the South-East region Asia, supported by the Directorate General for Globalization and Global Issues of the Farnesina and by the local diplomatic offices, respectively represented by Ambassadors Massimo Rustico in Kuala Lumpur and Mario Andrea Vattani in Singapore.
In particular, during the visit to Kuala Lumpur, meetings were held with the Chief of the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP), Inspector General TAN SRI ACRYL SANI, together with the head of international relations, Mr. Suparamaniam Ramasamy, and the Director of the Training Department Ms. Nerita YAACOB., respectively accompanied by a large delegation of front line reporters.
Similarly, during the visit to Singapore, discussions were held with the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Mr. Puah Kok Keong; with the head of the International Cooperation and Partnership Division, Mr. Sebastian Tan; as well as with heads of the Department of Homeland Security.
Interlocutions with those authorities, focused on strengthening bilateral and multilateral collaboration, in any case placed within the broader framework of our country's cooperation with the ASEAN region on the one hand, and with the Union on the other, concerned the main security issues of a transnational nature. Particular attention was paid to the negotiations for the definition of two intergovernmental agreements on police cooperation with the aforementioned countries, for which broad consensus was received and the availability of the counterparties for finalization.
On the bilateral level, moreover, broad appreciation was expressed by the Malaysian police authorities, regarding a project, financed by the DGMO of the Farnesina and developed by the International Relations Service Department of the PS, aimed at strengthening collaboration, starting from the sharing of a training package on security areas of greater strategic value.
Furthermore, in the multilateral sphere, the "Falcone-Borsellino Program for ASEAN" was presented, also financed by the DGMO and entrusted to the Department, in synergy with the Ministry of Justice. The project, replicating the positive experience already gained in the Latin American and Caribbean Region, aims to strengthen capacity building in the first step in the cybercrime and economic crime sectors, in an area with strong growth economic and, therefore, potentially exposed to the appetites of transnational organized crime.
Further security aspects were explored, on which to develop joint training activities and exchange of experts, as prerequisites for the construction of a network, knowledge of systems, tools and good practices, adopted in the fight against transnational criminal organizations and phenomena serious and emerging criminals; and building a network of experts in a climate of trust and reciprocity.
The hope was shared for a continuation of bilateral and multilateral initiatives to be planned on the basis of common needs, identifying shared priority sectors, aimed at strengthening the capacity and resilience of law enforcement, with respect to the challenges and threats posed by an increasingly more fluid and transnational.