RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday said the completion of the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism and proliferation (AML/CFT) action plans by Pakistan is a great achievement.
The Director General Inter Services Public Relations Major General Babar Iftikhar shared the message of the Army Chief at his official Twitter handle.
The Army Chief, “A monumental effort paving way 4 whitelisting. Core cell @ GHQ which steered the national effort and civil – military team which synergised implementation of action plan made it possible, making Pak proud”.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif too felicitated the nation and welcomed the announcement of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that Pakistan had met all its conditions for exclusion from the Grey List.
In a statement, he said, “Praise be to Allah, return of Pakistan to the white list is a big success of Pakistan.”
He congratulated the government institutions, personalities and relevant team and said their joint efforts brought fruit.
He appreciated the performance of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and team of the Foreign Ministry.
The PM said the efforts of the basic cell related to FATF and of military and civil leadership included in it, were praise worthy and credit went to them for their work in this national endeavor.
“I pay tribute to the whole team working for the success of Pakistan,” he said adding the statement of FATF was recognition of the restoration of the international reputation of Pakistan.
“More such good news will be destiny of Pakistan in future,” he said adding the return of Pakistan to the white list would help in improving the economic and financial situation of Pakistan.
“We are working with the same determination for the economic revival of Pakistan,” he concluded.
Taking to the Twitter FATF held: “It’s the final day of the FATF plenary in Berlin. Delegates from governments around the world and partner organisations, including the UN and IMF, have been discussing key money laundering and terrorist financing issues.”
Earlier, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb by means of Twitter urged people not to speculate about continuation or removal of Pakistan’s name from the Financial Action Task Force’s Grey list.
Taking to the twitter she maintained that was not an appropriate approach.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday, while acknowledging the completion of Pakistan’s both Action Plans (2018 and 2021), authorized an on-site visit to the country as a final step to exit from its grey list.
The task force reviewed Pakistan’s progress on FATF Action Plans in its plenary meetings held in Berlin on June 13-17, a press release issued here by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar said that Pakistan’s process of exiting the FATF’s grey list would come to an end in October.
“Now our process of exiting the grey list as per the FATF procedure starts, according to which a technical evaluation team will be sent to Pakistan,” she said in a video message after the task force said the country had met all 34 items on two separate action plans.
“It is our full effort that this team completes its work before October’s plenary cycle and we have told them that we will ensure their comfort and ease,” Khar said.
According to the Foreign Office, the FATF members while participating in the discussion on Pakistan’s progress, congratulated the country for completing both Action Plans covering 34 items, and especially on the early completion of the 2021 Action Plan in a record time-frame.
Pakistan continued its relentless efforts towards successful completion of the Action Plans despite many challenges, including the COVID 19 pandemic.
It covered a lot of ground in the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) domain during implementation of the Action Plans.
The engagement with FATF led to the development of a strong AML/CFT framework in Pakistan and resulted in improving the country’s systems to cope with future challenges.
Hina Rabbani Khar, in a Twitter post, congratulated Pakistan by saying that FATF had declared both Action Plans complete.
The international community had unanimously acknowledged the country’s efforts, she added.
“Our success is the result of 4 years of challenging journey. Pakistan reaffirms resolve to continue the momentum and give our economy a boost,” Ms Khar added.
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