HANOI - Vietnam and Myanmar agreed to strengthen defence and security cooperation, including joint efforts against human trafficking and online fraud.

General Secretary and President To Lam and Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing reached the agreement during talks in Hanoi on Sept. 5.

According to Vietnam Government News, the two countries will step up information exchange and coordination against transnational crime, drug crime, human trafficking, high-tech crime and online fraud. They also agreed to expand cooperation in young-officer training and exchanges, rescue operations and disaster response.

The agreement builds on an existing defence-security relationship rather than creating a new pillar from scratch.

A 2017 Vietnam-Myanmar joint statement establishing their Comprehensive Cooperative Partnership listed defence and security as one of five cooperation pillars. The latest talks call for strengthening that area as a key pillar of bilateral ties.

At a separate meeting on Sept. 5, Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and Min Aung Hlaing called for the early resumption of several bilateral mechanisms, including the security dialogue and the joint working group on bilateral defence cooperation, according to Vietnam News Agency reporting.

Human trafficking and online fraud overlap in some scam-centre operations. INTERPOL reported in June 2025 that, as of March that year, victims from 66 countries had been trafficked into online scam centres.

Seventy-four percent of trafficking victims covered by its analysis were taken to centres in Southeast Asia. Victims can be recruited through false job advertisements, detained and forced to carry out online scams.

“Tackling this rapidly globalizing threat requires a coordinated international response,” INTERPOL official Cyril Gout said.

The regional fraud threat has also surfaced in Thailand. In a June case in Chiang Mai, Thai police arrested 11 Chinese and four Myanmar nationals over an alleged call-centre scam operation. Police seized 10 computers and more than 45 mobile phones; the report said police filed charges against the Chinese nationals.

The two leaders said ministries and agencies should work to implement the understandings reached during Min Aung Hlaing’s three-day visit.