MANAMA: The Minister of Finance, Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa on Sunday said that there should be global and coherent efforts to stop terrorist financing.
“There is a pressing need to prevent the financing of terrorism and counter the illicit transfers of funds,” he said.
He was speaking during the opening session of the of the Conference on Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) which is being held in Bahrain after six weeks of a similar meet in Paris and said terrorist organizations rely on financing and support networks to sustain operations and launch attacks.
“We need to consider how best we can prevent terrorist organizations receiving funds,” the Minister said, adding that the main challenge for MENA region and global community is that how to form a strategy to address the terrorist financing scourge.
The meeting discussed the strengthening and the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions relating to CFT and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations, and will also address the means of achieving better international and domestic co-operation and collaboration between states and concerned bodies, as well as encouraging capacity building and sharing methods of identifying terrorist financing risks and vulnerabilities.
Delegates taking part in the meeting represent a wide range of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Arab League member states along with US, UK, France, Russia, China and other countries. A number of regional and international organizations are also represented. The list includes the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and its Bahrain – based regional style body; the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF).
During the meeting, a Bahrain delegation will discuss the Kingdom’s efforts to combat the financing of terrorism and put forward recommendations on how best to enhance the global battle against the phenomenon of terrorist financing.