VietNamNet Bridge – Provinces and cities across Viet Nam will be linked to an electronic database of drug-related offences from next year, according to a conference in Ha Noi yesterday, Dec 19.

The conference, co-organised by the Standing Office in Drugs and Crime under the Ministry of Public Security and the Korean International Co-operation Agency, is looking to crack down on drug-related crime in Viet Nam.

The project, worth US$2.87 million, has received nearly $2.4 million in the form of official development assistance from KOICA and the remainder from the Vietnamese Government.

It is part of a project combating drug-related crime in five ASEAN countries including Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines and Indonesia.

The three-year project ends next year and aims to increase the capacity of national drug control agencies, and build a data base to help ministries, agencies and local authorities join hands in tackling drug-related crime.

The database was also expected to help the Ministry of Public Security improve and enact the implementation of drug control policy.

The electronic system will link drug-related data between ministries and relevant agencies throughout the country.

Development of the database is taking place with drug-related officials from both central and local levels receiving training with the help of S. Korean experts since June 2010.

At the conference, major general Vu Hung Vuong, deputy head of the General Department for Crime Prevention under the Ministry of Public Security, said drug-related offences had became a global problem.

He also said Viet Nam hoped to contribute to building a drug-free ASEAN by 2015.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News