Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar has said that there’s no pendency of actions remained as the 2018 action plan is now closed but on-site visit to assess the implementation of money laundering/terror financing is a procedural requirement of FATF.
In a media briefing on Saturday, she told that the review delegation of FATF would be expected to visit before the October plenary as the authorities are closely working to arrange the FATF team to visit at mutually convenient dates.
Answering a question during the briefing, Khar said that it was unprecedented as Pakistan is the only country that had been asked to complete two action plans. She said that Pakistan always emphasized upon the apolitical and impartial FATF; adding that she would share credit with anyone who wants a piece of the pie.
The Minister of State said that Pakistan is now just one step away from exiting the financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list. She said that Pakistan would never repeat its mistakes of the past regarding terrorism. She said that if there are problematic repercussions then there’s no internal issue.
Khar said that lessons have been learnt that avoiding things is for our own sake not for others. She said that last year Pakistan submitted three progress reports to the FATF and now all seven-point action plans have been completed. The minister showed confidence that the acknowledgement would help to boost Pakistan’s economy and would improve the investment atmosphere.
She told that now that Pakistan is not only ahead regarding the legislation of financial regulations system in the region but it is also doing great in comparison to international benchmarks. The Minister of State praised the government officials that have been working to work out on a tremendous job. She said that Pakistan has now become in such a position where not only a pathway for reforms can be sustained but also, we can provide guidance to other countries on the list.
