(17 March 2026, Vienna)
Ambassador U Min Thein, Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna, attended the Global Fraud Summit, jointly organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), held at the Vienna International Centre, Austria, from 16 to 17 March 2026, and delivered a Statement during the High-Level Special Session on 16 March 2026.
In his statement, the Myanmar Permanent Representative informed the session that online scams and online gambling in Myanmar are largely operated by foreign actors in border areas where various ethnic armed groups are present. He explained that the Myanmar Government has been taking decisive and concrete action to combat online fraud through the establishment of National-Level Committees, the formation of the National Anti-Scam Centre, the introduction of the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) system, the enactment of Cyber Security and Anti-Money Laundering laws, the promotion of cooperation with private sector partners alongside public awareness campaigns. He also highlighted cooperation with China and Thailand in bilateral and trilateral contexts, as well as cooperation under the Mekong-Lancang framework.
As a result of these efforts, he further stated that more than 71,000 foreign nationals who were involved in scam activities from 58 countries have been transferred to their home countries. In addition, more than 600 buildings and thousands of communication devices used for online scam near the Myanmar-Thailand border were destroyed. At the same time, he pointed out that the increasing cases of cybercrime in Myanmar which are not only online fraud but also linked to human trafficking, narcotics, and money laundering. In addressing the challenges, he underscored importance of strengthened international cooperation among all countries and relevant organizations, particulary UNODC and INTERPOL in the area of information sharing, technical assistance, and capacity building, as well as through bilateral, regional and multilateral mechanisms. With this belief, Myanmar endorsed the two outcome documents of the summit, namely the “Call to Action on Combating Fraud” and the “Global Public-Private Partnership Framework Against Fraud”. He reiterated Myanmar’s readiness to work together with all partners to translate these commitments into concrete and effective actions.
The summit was convened with the aim of enhancing cooperation among governments, law enforcement agencies, the private sector, and civil society organizations in combating global fraud, and of turning commitments into concrete actions. The total number of participants at the Summit was more than 1,300, including ministers, deputy ministers, senior officials and diplomats from 123 countries, as well as representatives from IGOs, NGOs, private sector and technology companies.
During the summit, the “Call to Action on Combating Fraud” was endorsed by 32 countries and 3 Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs) and the “Global Public-Private Partnership Framework Against Fraud” by 28 countries, 3 IGOs, and 83 companies and institutions from private sector.
