"While recent political and economic integration within Southeast Asia has accelerated growth and sustainable development, it has also increased the level of transnational crime and security challenges faced by ASEAN members. Combined with an increase in internet use and technology access, these challenges continue to grow in significance. Despite this, most governments in the region are not able to respond effectively, with criminal justice and law enforcement agencies possessing varying levels of capacity to engage in cross-border legal cooperation. As a result, officials knowledge of, and trust in, international legal assistance remains low, at a time when the need to utilise it is increasingly rapidly. The reasons for this vary, ranging from a lack of capacity and knowledge of ILA and how it functions to outdated legal frameworks. In response, ASEAN and Member States have taken steps to address these issues. For instance, the ASEAN Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters was signed in 2004 and subsequently ratified by all Member States, and certain countries have recently introduced domestic MLA or extradition legislation or are currently in the process of doing so. However, the need to improve the capacity of countries in Southeast Asia to engage in ILA within the region and with international partners remains and is of growing urgency. In line with ongoing work in the area of rule of law and criminal justice reform in support of Southeast Asia and ASEAN sectoral bodies under its RP, UNODC convened a regional conference on “Improving Cross-Border Criminal Justice Cooperation in the ASEAN Region” in Bangkok, Thailand from 22 to 23 March 2017. The conference was attended by all ASEAN Member States and Timor-Leste. Other representatives included officials from the ASEAN Senior Law Officials Meeting (ASLOM), the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ), and the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT) Task Force, and subject matter experts from Canada and the United States of America. Representatives from Botswana, China, France, the Freeland Foundation, Germany, the European Union (EU), Kenya, New Zealand, Tanzania, and Uganda also observed and participated in the conference. Conference delegates discussed ILA in the ASEAN region and how they could improve their capacity to work together. In doing so, they identifies 5 common challenges and 5 related solutions to address, and a series of recommendations to implement. In addition, they took advantage of the opportunity to build and further relationships. The outcome of the conference will help guide UNODC, ASEAN Member States and other partners to provide assistance in the area of ILA in Southeast Asia..."