Indonesia attends money laundering meeting in Brisbane

Brisbane, (ANTARA) - An Indonesian delegation headed by Chairman of the Financial Transactions Reporting and Analysis (PPATK) Yunus Husein along with delegations from 38 countries and other territories on Monday (Jul 6) started the 12th annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Group for Monday Laundering (APG-ML) in Brisbane, Australia.

The meeting held at Plaza Foyer, the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC) until July 10 included technical seminars and evaluation preparatory meetings.

PPATK chairman Yunus Husein said the Indonesian delegation consisted of 14 members from relevant elements and interests, like PPATK, Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Bank Indonesia, Attorney General`s Office, Foreign Ministry, and the police.

Besides Yunus, the other delegates were Ferti Srikandi S., Syahrial Ramadhan, Djoko Kurnijanto, Ambar Widiyaningsih (PPATK), Suhari, M.Rofiq of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Betty J Parinusa of Bank Indonesia (BI), Feri Wibisono (KPK), and Garda Paripurna (doctorate law student of Wollongong University).

Yunus Husein said that he will submit a verbal report on the development of APG 2008 explaining various steps the Indonesian government had taken in combating money laundering.

The meeting in Brisbane also officially accepted membership of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and studied the methods and trends of money laundering and the funding of terrorist acts.

APG-ML is an autonomous international organization set up in Bangkok, Thailand in 1997. With 39 member countries, the efforts of APG-ML had the support of some other international organizations, like the International Monetary Fund, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank.

APG members and observers have a commitment to the application of international standards to combating money laundering and the funding of terrorism.

Besides Indonesia and Australia, the other APG-ML member countries and territories are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, Taiwan, Cooks Islands, the Fijis, Hong-Kong (China), India, Japan, Korea, Laos, Macau (China), Malaysia, and the Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, in addition to Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Niue, Pakistan, Palau, PNG, the Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomons, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste, Tonga, United States, Vanuatu, and Viet Nam.