FATF grey list: Netherlands to support Pakistan at ongoing review

• The Netherlands ambassador appreciated Pakistan for its measures taken against money laundering and terror financing.
• Pakistan is expected to receive support from 12 countries to exit the grey list, meanwhile China, Turkey and Malaysia have already announced their supported for Pakistan.

Netherlands has reaffirmed support to Pakistan at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), as the intergovernmental organization reviews Pakistan’s performance at the ongoing plenary in Paris.

The Ambassador of Netherlands to Pakistan Willem Wouter Plomp extended the support during a meeting with Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser in Islamabad. The envoy appreciated Pakistan for its measures taken against money laundering and terror financing.

Pakistan is expected to receive support from 12 countries to exit the grey list, meanwhile China, Turkey and Malaysia have already announced their supported for Pakistan.

Plomp said there is great scope of cooperation between Pakistan and Netherlands in the area of agriculture. He said that Netherlands can assist Pakistan in enhancing production of potatoes, dairy farming and cultivation of flowers on commercial basis.

The envoy further said the investors of his country are also interested to invest in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, at the ongoing plenary, discussions were held between FATF and the Pakistani delegation regarding the measures taken against convicting persons involved in terror financing in Paris. The Pakistani delegation told the body that the judicial system in Pakistan is completely free, the sentences served by courts are being implemented immediately.

The delegation also informed that legislation has been against terror financers in accordance with the FATF recommendations.

Meanwhile, the FATF has demanded that the prosecution system be made more effective and that those involved in financing terrorists should be punished with speedy penalties and fines.

The Pakistani delegation is being led by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar, who is also accompanied by officials of the Ministry of Finance, the State Bank, and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

More than 800 representatives from 205 countries and jurisdictions around the world, the IMF, UN, World Bank and other organizations are participating in these meetings.

The ongoing plenary will decide Pakistan’s fate regarding if it will stay into grey list or not.