20th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crimes and its Related Meetings – Singapore's Country Statement by Mr Goh Pei Ming, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of Social and Family Development

Chairman H.E. Juanito Victor C. Remulla

Excellencies and distinguished delegates,

Good morning.

Introduction

1. On behalf of the Singapore delegation, I thank the Philippines for hosting the 20^th AMMTC and its Related Meetings. We are grateful for the warm hospitality and generous welcome.

2. I will focus my remarks on three areas where stronger regional cooperation is needed: online scams and cybercrime, drug trafficking, and terrorism.

Scams and Cybercrime

3. First on scams and cybercrime, the scam situation remains deeply alarming. According to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, more than half of adults globally have experienced a scam in 2025, and 23% lost money to scams. In Southeast Asia, online scam losses reached US$23.6 billion in 2024, while the share of ASEAN consumers who were scammed rose sharply from 31% to 43% between 2024 and 2025.

4. Singapore is not immune to this threat. Singaporeans lost more than US$700 million to scams in 2025, even though, for the first time in eight years, reported scam cases dropped by 28% and losses dropped by 18%. This is an ongoing threat.

5. Tackling scams remains a key priority for Singapore. It requires action on several fronts.

6. First, we have strengthened our laws to keep pace with evolving scam threats. We recently passed the Scams (Countermeasures) and Other Matters Act, which strengthens our ability to detect, disrupt and deter scams through enhanced information sharing, stronger platform accountability, and tougher measures against the misuse of online accounts.

7. This builds on Singapore’s broader legislative framework. For example, through the Codes of Practice under the Online Criminal Harms Act, Singapore requires designated online services to take steps to proactively detect and prevent scams. These include maintaining fast-track channels to receive reports on scams and malicious cyber activities from law enforcement agencies and act on them within a specified timeline. Online platforms play a pivotal role in today’s scam ecosystem and must be held accountable as part of our overall regulatory regime.

8. Second, we have strengthened our operational capabilities and partnerships. In July 2026, the Singapore Police Force operationalised the Cyber Command to provide a coordinated, full-spectrum response to scams and cybercrime, from public education to dismantling criminal syndicates. Our Cyber Command is responsible for this. One key initiative is the National Scams List, which enables real-time sharing of scam-related information between the Police and service providers, including banks, telcos and online platforms. By sharing indicators of known scam enablers such as mobile numbers, bank account numbers, our service providers can proactively identify linked accounts, uncover wider scam networks, and take coordinated action to suspend or disable them. This helps close information gaps across different sectors for faster interventions. Our Anti-Scam Centre, within Cyber Command, continues to serve as the national coordination hub for anti-scam operations. At least US$99 million in potential scam losses were prevented by the Anti-Scam Centre and its partners in the first half of this year through proactive interventions.

9. Third, international and regional cooperation remains essential to tackling transnational scam syndicates. Singapore’s Government Tech Agency has joined the Global Signal Exchange, which enables authorities and industry partners to rapidly share scam intelligence and emerging threat indicators across borders. Regionally, operations under FRONTIER+, have resulted in more than 3,000 arrests and the seizure of US$161 million in illicit funds from over 102,000 frozen bank accounts across ten jurisdictions. There are now 15 members in the FRONTIER+ network, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore. We encourage all partners to join the network and strengthen our collective efforts against transnational scam syndicates.

10. Building on these partnerships, Singapore is also advancing regional cooperation as ASEAN Voluntary Lead Shepherd for Cybercrime and Online Scams. We have proposed two ASEAN initiatives to strengthen our collective response:

(a) First, the ASEAN Code of Practice will establish baseline anti-scam safeguards for online platforms. It builds on Singapore’s experience with implementing the Codes of Practice for online platforms and will help Member States push platforms to take more proactive and upstream action against scams.

(b) Second, the ASEAN Best Practices Guide on Combatting Scams will help Law Enforcement Agencies build up their anti-scam capabilities in areas of cross-border asset recovery and enforcement.

11. Together, these initiatives will strengthen Member States’ collective capabilities to combat scams.

12. Singapore values the strong support shown by Member States for the cybercrime-related initiatives organised by SOMTC-Singapore over the past year, including the Study Visits on Anti-Scam Centre Practices in ASEAN organised last month. We welcome the establishment of anti-scam mechanisms across ASEAN and invite Member States to visit the Singapore Anti-Scam Centre and participate in our capacity development programmes.

Drug Abuse and Trafficking

13. Let me move on to drug trafficking. The regional drug situation continues to deteriorate. Methamphetamine seizures in East and Southeast Asia reached a record high of 349 tons in 2025, a 48% increase from 2024. Ketamine seizures also reached a historic high of 52.5 tons, a 185% increase from 2024. These figures underscore the scale of the challenge we collectively face.

14. Singapore maintains a firm zero-tolerance stance towards drugs. We remain committed to building a drug-free community. Our whole-of-government approach, supported by preventive drug education, remains essential in addressing drug abuse.

15. Every month of May, Singapore commemorates Drug Victims Remembrance Day as a solemn reminder of the devastating impact of drugs on abusers, their families and the wider community. We are grateful for Member States' support for Singapore's Drug Victims Remembrance Day, as well as the inaugural ASEAN Drug Victims Remembrance Day held earlier this year on 26 of June. We look forward to the annual commemoration of both events as a demonstration of our shared commitment.

16. Singapore is a member of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), we strive to play a constructive and collaborative role on the international stage. For example, to enhance our collective understanding of the world drug problem, Singapore sponsored a chapter in the 2026 World Drug Report, which examined the impact of drug use on public safety. We have also organised programmes to scale up capacity-building and training opportunities, such as the annual Singapore Drug Control Programme. Singapore remains committed to addressing the world drug situation and is seeking re-election to the CND for a second term, from 2028 to 2031. We look forward to the support from ASEAN Member States. Together, we can work towards our vision of a Drug-Free ASEAN.

Terrorism

17. I will now speak on terrorism. Terrorism continues to threaten our region. Conflicts elsewhere in the world can be exploited by extremist groups to spread radical narratives, especially those framed along racial or religious lines. Such narratives can undermine social cohesion.

18. In Singapore, the domestic terrorism threat continues to be driven predominantly by self-radicalisation through online platforms. Just a few months ago, three self-radicalised Singaporean youths, aged between 14 and 19, were detained under the Internal Security Act for planning separate attacks in Singapore. The unrelated cases involved individuals who had been radicalised by violent extremist ideologies. They highlight the persistent threat posed by self-radicalised individuals.

19. Singapore takes a whole-of-society approach to countering terrorism. We have deepened partnerships with technology providers through a Code of Practice for Online Safety, which requires designated social media services and app stores to implement robust content moderation systems and user safety measures. These measures help reduce users’ exposure to harmful online content, including terrorist and extremist material.

20. We also work closely with religious and community partners, as well as NGOs, to prevent radical extremism from taking root, particularly online.

21. Singapore recognises that terrorism transcends national boundaries. We remain committed to working with ASEAN Member States to strengthen our collective ability to deter, detect and disrupt terrorist and radicalised individuals.

Conclusion

22. Your Excellencies, ASEAN Member States must remain united and deepen our collaboration to combat transnational crime effectively.

23. Singapore remains committed to working closely with all Member States for a safer and more secure ASEAN.

24. Thank you.