Ashgabat has hosted the 31st plenary meeting of the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (EAG), which brought together representatives of nine countries: Turkmenistan, Belarus, India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (EAG) is a regional body and an associate member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). 15 countries and 22 international organizations have been granted observer status with the Group.
The EAG’s primary objective is to ensure effective regional cooperation and integration of its member countries into the international system of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing in accordance with FATF’s recommendations and standards of other reputable international organizations the EAG member nations are a part of.
The meeting focused on the Eurasian Group’s key role in reducing threats posed by international terrorism, ensuring transparency, reliability and security of the nations’ financial systems, as well as on the outcomes of its activities.
Among those attending the meeting were high-ranking officials of the Group’s finance intelligence units, heads and leading experts of international and regional organizations.Turkmenistan was represented by senior officials and specialists of the Financial Monitoring Service, and relevant ministries and agencies working to fight money laundering and terrorism financing.
Speaking at the meeting, the minister of finance and economy of Turkmenistan informed about our country’s policy in this field.As highlighted, neutral Turkmenistan calls on the nations to combine efforts to detect, prevent and disrupt money laundering and terrorist networks, to adopt a comprehensive approach to tackling crime and fighting terrorism to eliminate these threats.
Fully committed to the principles of international law, our country has adhered to a number of United Nations Conventions, Agreements and Programs aimed to counter international and regional security threats, such as organized crime, terrorism, radicalism and extremism.
In this context, Turkmenistan attaches much importance to collaboration with the FATF, the Eurasian Group and the Egmont Group.As part of the plenary week, meetings of Working Groups had been held the day before to exchange constructive views on a wide spectrum of issues concerning financial security.
The attendees heard reports on outcomes of the representative body’s enhanced monitoring efforts in some of the participating countries.Speakers at the meetings noted that combating corruption, money laundering, terrorism financing, and other threats and challenges with the aim of strengthening economic stability (including global economic stability) and protecting international security is one of the key clauses of the Declaration on Strategic Economic Cooperation, adopted by the CIS heads of state in Ashgabat on October 11.
As a UN member state, Turkmenistan is actively participating in tackling topical issues of today both regionally and globally.With a wealth of experience gained, bilateral cooperation via participation in international forums has acquired qualitatively new meaning in recent years.
Discussions also centered on making amendments to the Eurasian Group’s personnel and financial documents.The multilateral meetings will conclude on November 29.The participants will take decisions on improving measures to effectively combat money laundering, terrorism financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the EAG member countries and in the whole region.