Speech by The

THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA

MINISTRY OF FINACE

SPEECH BY THE HON. DR. FESTUS. LIMBU (MP), DEPUTY MINISTER FOR FINANCE, ON THE OCCASION OF THE OPENING OF THE ESAAMLG NINTH TASK FORCE MEETING OF SENIOR OFFICIALS AT IMPALA HOTEL, ARUSHA – TANZANIA ON 14TH MARCH, 2005

Chairman of the Task Force of Senior Officials of

ESAAMLG,

Executive Secretary of ESAAMLG,

Members of the Diplomatic Corps,

Permanent Secretary to the Treasury

Distinguished Guests,

Delegates,

Members of the Press,

Ladies and gentlemen, Let me begin by expressing how delighted I am to welcome you to Tanzania. On behalf of my government, ‘Karibuni sana’ (welcome)! We feel greatly honoured, to play host to such an important gathering. May I also encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to sample part of the country’s flora and fauna, on the trip to the reknown Ngorogora crater that will take place after your meeting I am sure the organizing team will render you with all the assistance to make your stay memorable so that hopefully, in the coming months, you may seek to bring your families to come and visit Tanzania and Arusha in a more relaxed fashion.

Mr. Chairman I am also honoured to address the large and diverse turnout of ESAAMLG and its cooperating partners present today. This is a clear demonstration of the fact that we are committed to jointly grapple with the difficult issues of money laundering and terrorist financing. These issues are too heavy for any country or institution to tackle singly and conclusively. Hence I am very pleased to note the high turnout of the key stakeholders from within the region and overseas. We need this spirit of regional and international cooperation, as this is a critical starting point in the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and, indeed, any crime. We all know that the criminal underworld has been known to weave illicit national, regional and international webs to perpetrate predicate offences, which provide them with the loot for money laundering or terrorist financing activities.

We, who are gathered here, stand on the opposite side of the criminal world with a noble purpose of taking on the illicit criminal web. Without unity of purpose on our part as individual governments of ESAAMLG, the criminal elements would go about their illicit business unfettered. At this juncture, I wish to acknowledge the supportive and unifying role of the financial action Task Force, as well as our Cooperating and Supporting Countries and Observers in assisting ESAAMLG, being a young Financial Task Force Action style Regional Body to stay on course. Still, at a nascent stage, it is gratifying to receive collaborative assistance that enables us to learn by doing. Mr. Chairman, During the 4th Council of Ministers Meeting in Mauritius in august, last year concerns were raised by our cooperating partners, about the slow pace in progressing AML/Creating Financing of Terrorism regime development in the ESAAMLG jurisdictions. I am please to note that despite being wrought with challenges, notable progress has been made to speed up the pace of implementing the international AML/CFT principles consistent with the 40 + 9 Recommendations.

First, I note that three mutual evaluation reports crafted by our own home grown experts will be presented at this plenary. This is a commendable milestone in the development of ESAAMLG. It is my expectation that we will build on the lessons that have come out of the mutual evaluation reports that have been undertaken in Lesotho, Namibia and Malawi and prior to that, South Africa and Swaziland.

The countries that have undergone mutual evaluation need to commit to the report recommendations and accordingly take deliberate steps to implement the recommendations. To those countries that have not yet been evaluated, I urge you to begin implementing the international standards nonetheless. Drawing on lessons from the jurisdictions that have already yielded to evaluation is likely to assist you with invaluable lessons.

Second, I would like to acknowledge tha tremendous achievements made by South Africa and Mauritius, not just with respect to their AML/CFT legislative frameworks, but also with their institutional frameworks. Zambia has also made tremendous strides with AML investigations and prosecutions. We need this African-rooted experience to be transferred from these AML/CFT epicenters towards other ESAAMLG jurisdictions. For Tanzania, our top priorities are the enactment of the ant-Money Laundering legislation, which is in the final drafting stages, and the establishment of a Financial Intelligence Unit- still at a conceptual stage. While budgetary resources are limited, It is possible to begin and we already have examples of this happening in Lesotho and Swaziland, using experts from Mauritius. We need to seriously start complementing the donor and international good will to demonstrate that we are equally committed to the challenges. Consequently, I challenge South Africa and Mauritius, in collaboration with the Secretariat, to explore ways of assisting those jurisdictions that are nearly there.

Third, cognizant that laws are insufficient on their own, it is significant that the Working Group has done some preliminary work on the ESAAMLG Strategy document, which once approved by the Council, will assist the Group to systematically work through issues relating to the adoption and actual implementation of the 40 + 9 Recommendations. Thus, the Task Force is challenged to emerge with proposals for the 5th Council of Ministers regarding a formula to oblige member countries of ESAAMLG to undertake appropriate actions within specific time frame to ensure that no country lags behind.

Mr. Chairman, On the part of the Council, following communication from the President of ESAAMLG to all members of the Council in November 2004, the pace of policy support to the process of AML/CFT implementation has variously been stepped up. The promulgation of comprehensive AML/CFT legislations, and setting up of relevant institutional frameworks in the coming months, will be a testimony to

this progress. In addition, those member countries that did not indicate their availability for evaluation during the 4th Council Ministers Meeting, have since yielded to evaluation and the Secretariat informs me that all the member countries are now within scope of a mutual evaluation or Bank/Fund led AML/CFT assessment by the first half of 2006. Further, the question of active national and regional commitment to implement international AML/CFT principles is being discussed at various political forums.

It is also noteworthy that the Financial Action Task Force Presidency will come to South Africa, after France. As ESAAMLG, we pride ourselves with the knowledge that one of our own members will head the AML/CFT standard setting institution. However, this development is a further wake up call to other member countries in the region in that the international spotlight will be trained on all of us. Indeed, it would make a lot of business sense to have more countries in the region move closer to where South Africa is in terms of the AML/CFT preparedness.

I welcome the opportunity for South African delegation to share as much of the experience as they can with other members, particularly during this meeting.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen As you embark on your 9th Plenary Session, rest assured that the Council stands ready to endorse ideas that will help the region make strides forward. I wish you the most productive deliberations.

I thank you for your attention.