Over 30 countries to attend money laundering conference

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Officials from more than 30 countries and international organizations will be gathering in Bali on Dec. 17 and 18 to discuss comprehensive measures to deal with money laundering and terrorist financing in the region.

Co-hosted by Indonesia and Australia, the two-day conference, will focus on capacity building measures from the participating countries in detecting such crimes.

The ministry for foreign affairs said on Friday that the recent Bali bombings provided additional reasons for these countries to seek joint measures to stop terrorist acts, including stopping funding for terrorism.

"Although the conference was planned long before the blasts, they have put weight behind our joint efforts not to let such tragic events recur" the ministry said in a statement.

Representative from international organizations such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund will also participate in the conference.

Countries expected to send delegations to the conference are, among others, the United States, the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), and other neighboring countries.

The conference will be officially opened by Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda and the Australian Minister of Justice Chris Ellison.

Hassan said earlier that the conference would be a great opportunity for developing countries to learn from more developed countries on how to deal with criminal activity.

"The conference also wishes to see stronger political commitments from participating countries to support each other in dealing with these crimes," he said.

Money laundering and terrorist financing have become of major importance, especially after the Bali bombing, Hassan said, adding that it was difficult to detect and trace terrorist activities in the Asian region.

Associated Press reported on Friday that an ADB official cited poor regulation and informal transaction systems as making Southeast Asia a haven for such crimes.

The official said that due to these conditions, it was more difficult to stop terror financing than money laundering activities in the region.

"Some recent incidents show that funds for terrorist financing are not necessarily very huge," said Motoo Noguchi, an ADB adviser on anti-money laundering activities.

"Even US$10,000 can trigger a tragic incident. The size of the money doesn't matter," he added as quoted by Associated Press.

Tracking the money of suspected terrorist groups has proven more difficult because of a lack of information exchange and extradition treaties between individual nations, Noguchi told reporters.

"We really don't know the size and magnitude of terrorist funds being laundered," he said. "We haven't got so much calls for assistance in this field ... government responses are delayed."