Indonesian Foreign Minister: ASEAN Needs A Strong And Integrated Collective Response To Face Transnational Crimes

The 29th ASEAN Political Security Community (APSC) Council Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Source: Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

JAKARTA - ASEAN requires a strong and integrated collective response to face transnational crimes, said Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono on Sunday.

This was conveyed by Foreign Minister Sugino at the 29th ASEAN Political Security Community (APSC) Council Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on May 25, 2025.

In this meeting, Foreign Minister Sugiono appreciated the achievement of the 2025 APSC Blueprint implementation which has reached 99.6 percent. On the other hand, he emphasized the importance of ASEAN preparedness in responding to increasingly complex regional security challenges.

"In the future, we need to focus more on real threats such as transnational crimes. This is not only a security issue, but a serious threat to the process of establishing the ASEAN community itself," he explained, citing a statement from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sunday (25/5).

Foreign Minister Sugiono further encouraged the strengthening of cooperation between ASEAN state law enforcers, as an effort to eradicate transnational crimes more effectively, including through investigations, information sharing, mutual legal assistance, as well as the appointment of national focal points for coordinated communication and action.

"ASEAN requires a strong, integrated and oriented collective response to the protection of victims and effective law enforcement," said Foreign Minister Sugiono.

In addition to security issues, Foreign Minister Sugino in this meeting also underlined the importance of integrating the implementation of ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) into the APSC pillar.

"AOIP must be a unifying framework and encourage various collaborations between pillars and sectors," he said.

In this context, Foreign Minister Sugiono encourages the implementation of the Concept Paper on AOIP from a Defense Perspective which ASEAN has agreed in 2023.

The Foreign Minister encouraged various other ASEAN sectoral bodies to follow this step so that AOIP can be thoroughly prioritized in the APSC Strategic Plan towards the ASEAN Community Vision 2045.

It is known, the APSC Council meeting is a high-level forum for ASEAN Political-Security Ministers who discuss the strategic direction of regional cooperation in political and security pillars.

This meeting succeeded in adopting the ASEAN Political-Security Community Council Report and the APSC Strategic Plan.