PETALING JAYA: Cybercrime has overtaken piracy as Asean’s primary security concern, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail after chairing the 19th Asean Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC) in Malacca last week.
“Once, the focus was sea piracy. Today, the most dangerous threats come from the digital sphere (such as) online scams and money laundering.
“These crimes have no borders and no ethnicity. Victims could be anyone, from small business owners to students.”
The three-day meeting saw Asean unanimously adopt the Transnational Crime Action Plan 2026-2035, setting the region’s roadmap for the next decade.
Malaysia also tabled a proposal to form a Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime Working Group on Money Laundering, which would meet for the first time in 2026 to cut off the financial pipelines fuelling transnational crime.
Three declarations were endorsed at the meeting:
the Melaka Declaration on Combating Transnational Crime, which anchors Malaysia’s chairmanship; the Asean Declaration on Countering People Smuggling; and the Asean Declaration on Combating Cybercrime and Online Scams.
Three more declarations would be tabled at the Asean Summit
in October.
Saifuddin Nasution said data from international partners underscored the urgency of action.
“The UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly and Meta revealed that global losses from online scams exceeded
US$1 trillion (RM4.3 trillion) annually.
“This is not just a statistic, it is a warning that without action, more (individuals) would fall prey.”
Under the Asean Plus Three framework, member states also had discussions with China, Japan and South Korea on how artificial intelligence, big data analytics and real-time information sharing could sharpen law enforcement cooperation.
On narcotics, the meeting flagged the escalating threat of synthetic drugs as one of the region’s most pressing security challenges.
At the closing, Saifuddin Nasution symbolically handed over the AMMTC chairman’s headgear to the Philippines, which would host the next round. He said Malaysia’s chairmanship had been marked by “tangible results”, from declarations to action plans that would steer Asean’s security response for years.
“Asean may differ in views at times but on security, we always seek common ground. That is our strength.
“Today, (we) stand as one of the world’s most stable regions. Malaysia will continue to lead, ensuring our people are protected from emerging and complex threats.”
