Honourable Ministers, distinguished guests I am very pleased to have the opportunity to attend this important event.
Even though maybe most of you have been on the island for some days, it is still with great pleasure that, on behalf of the Government of the Netherlands Antilles, we welcome you here in Curacao.
Though we are a small island, we receive you with great hopes and expectations: to achieve a world where money laundering and terrorism financing get difficult to execute with each passing day. Where all those involved in money laundering and terrorism financing acts are constantly reminded that however complex structures and sophisticated methods they might devise to evade being detected, it won’t be long before they have to assume their responsibilities before a judicial court.
We are all well aware, that the trafficking of arms, the trafficking of humans and drugs, are very lucrative global criminal activities. Without a doubt, these activities could not operate as large criminal organizations, were it not for the fact that they operate through organized transnational crime. As has often been said, were there no persons or States to acquire arms, arms trafficking would disappear; likewise drug trafficking would disappear were it not for the consumers, or the treatment of innocent human beings were it not for abusers. But what is certain is that these types of criminal organizations also would not exist were it not for the recruitment of men and women, adults, youths or children.
The Government of the Netherlands Antilles has clearly stated that we should be aggressive when facing criminality, but even more so with its sources, its origins; and I am convinced that, on a global scale, it is also possible to jointly confront the causes of organized crime. Organized crime units have discovered that the financial sector is being scrutinized by so many instances and have now turned their attention to the so-called non-financial sector. Our Minister of Finance, Mrs Ersilia de Lannooy, will inform you of the laws we have amended whereby this non-financial sector has been brought under the reporting obligation of our Financial Intelligence Unit. As such once again making it difficult for our financial and non-financial sector to be abused. It remains a permanent battle to put in place a robust Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) regime, that can effectively deter and detect these crimes. There are continuous and sustained attempts internationally to out-maneuver the AML/CFT system. However by strengthening collaboration and cooperation among key stakeholders in the reporting chain; by providing greater focus in enhancing the competency and capacity of FIU analysts and other personnel, of law enforcement officers and compliance officers can help us in attaining our objectives. Ladies and Gentlemen, Worldwide and regional efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing have assumed tremendous importance. This fight will rightly continue in the future. Both are global problems that not only threaten security, but also compromise the stability, transparency and efficiency of financial systems, thus undermining long-term economic growth and prosperity. The combat against money laundering and terrorist financing must, therefore, be relentless and no country in our region can ignore this fact. I am sure that this weeks’ meetings will have helped provide a platform to widen the knowledge and understanding on the critical issues with regard to the effective fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. With commitment and determination, there is no reason why we should not succeed. I hereby express the desire to count on your collaboration to make the coming period a very fruitful chairmanship of the CFATF by the Netherlands Antilles. On this note, I wish you a productive and successful Ministerial meeting. Thank you
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|