S.E. Asian govts make deal on drug control
S.E. Asian govts make deal on drug control
By Tiffany Bown
BEIJING (AFP): Six regional countries signed here yesterday their first joint action plan to tackle Southeast Asia's booming drugs trade, pledging three years of close cooperation in 11 specific areas.
At ministerial-level talks, delegates also signed a protocol accepting Vietnam and Cambodia into the framework of a memorandum of understanding on drugs control that was initialed by China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and the UN International Drug Control Program (UNDCP) in 1993.
In a Beijing Declaration signed at the end of the three-day conference, the six nations said "the drugs situation in Asia requires immediate attention" and acknowledged that no country could solve the problem in isolation.
The action plan is expected to cost US$10 million, of which $7.5 million is to be sought from international donors, while the six nations are to make the most of their contributions in kind, mostly by providing personnel, said Vincent McClean, director of the UNDCP's regional center.
Detailed drafts for two collaborative projects outlined in the program -- which covers demand and supply reduction, as well as strengthening law enforcement -- were also approved yesterday.
Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan, who is heading his country's delegation, hailed the achievements of the meeting as a significant step in boosting regional cooperation.
In order to fight the drug scourge "we need to operate as a single unit because we need to share experiences and resources and help each other in implementing some of the obligations that have been signed," he said.
Zhuo Feng, Deputy Secretary-General of China's National Narcotics Control Commission, said, "I think that if all countries work hard to cooperate well together, there is a great hope of solving the drugs problem."
"It is not something that can be solved overnight, but progress can be made in controlling and limiting the problem," he said.
Giorgio Giacomelli, Executive Director of the UNDCP, estimated there were now 40 to 50 million drug addicts worldwide, but added that more worrying than the numbers was the trend of addiction from rich to poor nations that are less equipped to tackle the problem.
"I think things are going badly, they will probably get worse before they start to improve," said Giacomelli, but added that agreements such as those signed yesterday were helping to build a "solid foundation" in the long fight against the global problem.
"We begin to have people working together, we have countries that have probably never in history sat together around a table expressing a firm commitment to cooperate," he said.
While the abuses faced by the six countries varied, they are "problems that are complementary that have to be solved with mutual support," he said.
Trafficking remains the main problem in China and Cambodia, but there is a serious threat of addiction spreading and of them developing into production bases like Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.
Of the two projects agreed on in detail yesterday, one envisages a program to control the availability of precursors and essential chemicals required for making drugs, while the second aims to improve procedures for operational collaboration between law enforcement agencies.
Other planned areas of cooperation include stepping up exchanges of information on trafficking, creating alternative forms of income for drug producers, enhancing drug abuse prevention and rehabilitation activities, and carrying out joint training.
Myanmar, Cambodia and China are represented respectively by Home Minister Lieutenant General Mya Thin, Minister of Justice Chem Snguon and Minister of Public Security and National Narcotics Control Commission director Tao Siju.
Minister of the prime minister's office of Laos Khamxay Soupanouvong and Vietnamese Vice Minister Than Tanh Xuan are leading their countries' delegations.