EU lauds Pakistan efforts to implement FATF Action Plan

• The EU envoy gave assurance that technical facilities would be available for Pakistan in any implementation process.

The European Union (EU) has appreciated Pakistan in its efforts to implement the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Action Plan.

EU Ambassador in Pakistan Androulla Kaminara called on Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad on Wednesday. During the meeting matters pertaining to trade and political cooperation between Pakistan and the European Union were discussed.

The EU envoy assured Qureshi to provide technical facilities to Pakistan in this regard.

The Foreign Minister highlighted grave human rights violations by the Indian army in occupied Kashmir and apprised the EU Ambassador about the Indian government's discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act.

While noting recent and significant improvements last month, the FATF again expressed its concerns given Pakistan’s failure to complete its action plan in line with the agreed timelines and in light of the task force's risks emanating from the jurisdiction.

The outcome of the FATF Plenary February 19-21 meeting noted that to date, Pakistan has largely addressed 14 of 27 action items, with varying levels of progress made on the rest of the action plan. The FATF strongly urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan by June 2020.

Different countries have praised Pakistan for its efforts to combat money laundering and anti-money laundering. “Pakistan has made enormous efforts in improving its counter-terror financing system,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang during a daily briefing.