Marine Region was invited to attend the 12th Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM) in Jakarta, Indonesia, from October 11 to 14 as the sole city participant from the Asia-Pacific region. A four-member delegation, led by Marine Regional Commander Lam Hiu-tong, met representatives of 16 Asia-Pacific countries to discuss maritime policing issues.

The highlight of the meeting was a maritime counter-terrorism exercise jointly conducted by the coast guard forces of Indonesia, Japan and India to simulate the interception of a suspicious vessel carrying radioactive substances. The exercise showcased the significance of collaboration in intelligence sharing, communication and co-ordination of the maritime enforcement agencies.

HACGAM was established in 2004 and has expanded the agenda to cover the strengthening of co-operation among the members within a framework of four pillars, namely search and rescue, environmental protection, preventing and controlling unlawful acts at sea and capacity building.

This year, the participants endeavoured to set up a platform to enhance information exchange and operational capabilities among HACGAM members. In addition, they presented progress reports about their work under the four-pillar framework, which provided a useful reference for the Hong Kong Marine Police in formulating policing plans.