Over 30 countries to attend money laundering conference

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."