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Australia and Indonesia jointly established the Bali Process in 2002 to develop and implement strategies and co-operation to tackle cases of human smuggling and trafficking and related crimes in the Asian Pacific Region. They jointly chaired an operational-level "Bali Process Senior Officials Meeting", which was followed by the ministerial-level "The Fifth Bali Regional Ministerial Conference" in Bali, Indonesia, on April 1 and 2.
Chief Superintendent (CSP) Kwok Ho-fai and Chief Inspector (CIP) Wong Cho-shing of Organized Crime and Triad Bureau (OCTB) attended both international forums on human trafficking, alongside representatives from a total of 48 member countries, regions and international organisations.
Also present in the meeting and conference were Mr Liu Jianchao, Ambassador of China to Indonesia, Ms Yu Hong, Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Assistant Director Fung Pak-ho and Chief Immigration Officer Wong Wing-chung from Immigration Department of Hong Kong.
In the two events, past activities of the Bali Process, the current situation, key themes and the way forward were discussed. In a plenary discussion of the conference, Ambassador Liu delivered a presentation, highlighting China's efforts to prevent and combat human smuggling and transnational crimes.
The conference came up with initiatives to take the Bali Process forward to co-operate with the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Co-operation (JCLEC) to boost the capability of member countries and establish a working group to combat human trafficking more effectively. In addition, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime will develop a system for intelligence sharing by member countries.
In the international forums, CSP Kwok and CIP Wong took the opportunity to exchange views and strengthen co-operation and networking with overseas law enforcement agencies and international organisations.
Superintendent Brian Thomson of the Australian Federal Police (AFP), who is the Executive Director of JCLEC, praised Force members: "AFP and JCLEC have developed close relationship with the Hong Kong Police Force. Officers from the Hong Kong Police are always high calibre candidates for training courses."