CYBERCRIME TO BE PART OF MALAYSIA-SINGAPORE'S CROSS-BORDER CRIME COOPERATION - MINISTER

By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz

SINGAPURA, Nov 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Singapore will continue to strengthen their cooperation to combat cross-border crime by adding cybercrime elements, in line with current needs.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the renewed memorandum of understanding (MoU) would be signed during his meeting with Singapore's Minister of Home Affairs and Law, K. Shanmugam, on Thursday.

"We already have a cross-border cooperation memorandum with Singapore. Apart from maintaining the existing elements, we are adding in cybercrime.

"At the ASEAN level, losses due to cybercrime are US$64 billion; at the global level, it is much higher," he told Bernama at the Malaysian Diaspora Get-Together in Singapore here.

He said cooperation in this area was important because cybercrime could not be tackled alone, especially when it involved the three components of capacity-building, intelligence-sharing and joint operations. 

Saifuddin said the exchange of the MoU documents would be done at the Annual Leaders' Retreat to be hosted by Malaysia on Dec 8.

He said the visit to the republic was also a preparation (prelude) ahead of the retreat which would be attended by the prime ministers of both countries.

"We hope that matters involving issues under the portfolio of the Ministry of Home Affairs will be among the most resolved, especially the issue of congestion at the country's entry points," he said.

During his visit, he is scheduled to visit the operations centre of the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority of Singapore.

-- BERNAMA