Australia says it will step up efforts to help Southeast Asian countries fight serious crime. Australia is seeking to build influence in a region increasingly dominated by China.
The British newspaper The Guardian recently reported that Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is calling for tenders for the Mekong-Australia Transnational Crime Project (MAP-TNC), with a final decision due in early March. The project was originally scheduled to start at the end of last year, but was postponed due to the new crown Epidemic.
“The MAP-TNC will provide a budget of A$30 million (US$23 million) over eight years to help countries in the Mekong region, including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, to combat crimes such as illicit drug trafficking, human trafficking and financial crimes.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade noted that the project will focus on three objectives: assessing transnational crime challenges through better policy analysis, evidence and a stronger information base; strengthening national operational capacity to prevent, detect and address transnational crime; and enhancing regional coordination (operations, information sharing, border security).
The Guardian quoted an Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson as saying, “Australia is committed to strengthening its engagement with national partners in the Mekong region to enhance our concerted response to transnational crime, which generates tens of billions of Australian dollars a year for organized crime groups through illicit activities in the region, undermining regional stability and economic development. “
Ben Bland, director of the Southeast Asia program at the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank, told the Guardian that the project is “part of a broader effort to deepen ties with governments and law enforcement agencies in a region of growing geopolitical importance, where China is playing an increasingly leading role in the Mekong region. China is playing an increasingly dominant role in the Mekong region,” he said.
He said, “If Australia and partners like the United States and Japan want to counter Beijing, they need to find more ways to help the region with the day-to-day problems it faces, such as transnational crime.”
Bai also told the newspaper that while broader geopolitical factors may have played a role in the project’s design, Australia also has an interest in stopping criminal activity in the Mekong region. “Many of the organized crime groups in the Mekong region can be traced in Australia,” “so improving the ability of Mekong governments to combat these activities is also directly related to Australia’s national interest.”
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