On October 16-17, 2023, , the Wildlife Conservation Society – Viet Nam Office (WCS Viet Nam) warmly welcomed Ms. Lisa Patricia Spratt, the Branch Chief on the Wildlife Trafficking and Transnational Crime Programs Team, Ms. Allison Rachel Lajeskie, program officer of Office of Global Programs and Policy, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), the U.S. Department of State, and Mr. Samuel Juett, Law Enforcement and Justice Programs Coordinator, INL Viet Nam, to WCS Viet Nam office, visiting Viet Nam Maritime University (VMU), and having a courtesy meeting with the Supreme People’s Procuracy (SPP) of Viet Nam.
INL delegation &WCS meet Vietnam Maritime Univertity, Ha Noi, October 2023
On Oct. 16, 2023, in the meeting with the Vice-president of VMU – Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Son, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hong Van - Head of International Relations Department, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Cuong – Dean of the Faculty of Navigation, together with leaders and representatives from different departments, the delegation was introduced to VMU’s operation in providing human resources for maritime industry and their achievements over the past years as well as the cooperation between WCS and VMU on preventing and combating illegal trade and transportation of wildlife by sea routes since September 2022 and the plan forwards. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Son emphasized the challenges for state maritime management authorities, law enforcement agencies and shipping lines in tackling transnational wildlife crime including the inter-agency cooperation within the country and with those from other countries.
“We hope that VMU will continue to receive support from INL and WCS Viet Nam in improving knowledge and skills for lecturers and students on content related to preventing and combatting illegal transportation of wildlife by sea routes” – Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong said. Also, in the meeting Ms. Hoang Bich Thuy, Country Representative of WCS Viet Nam shared that “WCS will continue to seek further support from the donor community in general and INL in particular to work with VMU to promote public-private partnership and enhancing capacity of relevant stakeholders in combating wildlife trafficking by sea routes”.
After the meeting with VMU, INL delegation also paid a visit to the VIP Green Port of Hai Phong city to learn about the port's operation, their cooperation with port authorities, other ports, shipping lines and law enforcement agencies in monitoring, detecting, and preventing Illegal transportation of wildlife.
INL delegation &WCS visited to the VIP Green Port, Hai Phong, October 2023
The courtesy meeting with the Viet Nam’s SPP was on October 17, 2023, and the INL delegation was warmly welcomed by Ms. Hoang Thuy Hoa – Deputy Director General of the International Cooperation and Mutual legal assistance in Criminal Matters Department (Department 13), and representatives from Legal Affairs Department (Department 14) and Hanoi Procuratorate University (HPU). During the discussion, the challenges and the role of the prosecution agencies in handling illegal wildlife trade cases were shared and discussed with the delegation.
The visit helped INL representatives having better understanding of the illegal wildlife trade situation in Viet Nam and WCS's cooperation with local partners including VMU and SPP in combating wildlife trafficking and its convergent crimes when Viet Nam is considered as a destination and transit point for large quantities of wildlife products from Africa to Asia.