Business
No relief yet for Pakistan as FATF keeps it on global grey list
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday announced it would keep Pakistan on the grey list until at least February next year.
Speaking at a virtual press conference in Paris on Friday the anti-money laundering/terror financing watchdog’s president Marcus Pleyer said there were still conditions Pakistan needs to comply with before they can be removed from the grey list.
“Pakistan must comply with the remaining six items, then the FATF will send its onsite team to verify progress on the ground. After completion of this process, the FATF will consider Pakistan to be excluded from the list of jurisdictions with increased risk of terror financing that is called the grey list.”
Pleyer said although Pakistan has made progress in terms of carrying out reforms and implemented measures such as imposing sanctions against those financing terrorism, more still needed to be done.
The FATF plenary removed Iceland and Magnolia from the grey list. North Korea and Iran will remain on the blacklist.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar said on Twitter: “FATF acknowledges that any blacklisting is off the table now. Pak has achieved impressive progress on its FATF action plan. 21 out of 27 action items now stand cleared. Remaining 6 rated as partially complete. Within a year, we progressed from 5/27 to 21/27 completed items.”
According to a statement issued by FATF Pakistan’s continued political commitment has led to progress in a number of areas including taking action to identify and sanction illegal MVTS, implementing cross-border currency and controls, improving international cooperation in terrorist financing cases and applying sanctions where necessary, among others.
The statement noted that Pakistan should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies.
One area FATF said Pakistan needs to work on is to demonstrate effective implementation of targeted financial sanctions against all 1,267 and 1,373 designated terrorists and those acting for or on their behalf.
However, the FATF said it “takes note of the significant progress made on a number of action plan items. To date, Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed 21 of the 27 action items. As all action plan deadlines have expired, the FATF strongly urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan by February 2021.”
The National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) said on Wednesday that last year, the value of exports totaled $1.79 billion while imports totaled $8.57 billion.
According to NSIA, fruits accounted for the largest share of export items last year, totaling over $645 million.
Medicinal plants, minerals and vegetables were the next top three items respectively to be exported.
Meanwhile, petroleum and oil accounted for the largest portion of imported goods, totaling over $1.37 billion.
Another large portion of the total amount imported went to machinery, vehicles and parts. This totaled over $1.15 billion, followed by textiles, metals and metal products.
Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, headed to Russia to participate in an international economic meeting in Kazan, Tatarstan.
The aim of the Russia-Islamic World: KazanForum 2024, the 15th edition of the forum, is to offer a platform for leading international economic and financial specialists from the Islamic world to strengthen ties between the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the regions of the Russian Federation in the economic, educational, social and cultural spheres, Anadolu Agency reported.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce said that Azizi, leading a high-level delegation of the Islamic Emriate, traveled to Tatarstan at the invitation of Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov.
The forum is held between May 14 and 19.
The forum also aims to promote the development of Islamic financial institutions in Russia and worldwide, with a focus on joint international projects and programs, according to Anadolu Agency.
More than 80 nations are expected to participate in the event, including representatives of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Malaysia, Türkiye, Iran, Libya, and other OIC member states.
Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs Abdul Salam Hanafi says Afghanistan has the potential to become one of the most important industrial centers in the region.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the national and international expo on the occasion of Industry Week, Hanafi said that the growth of industry lays the foundation for the growth of other economic sectors and that the Islamic Emirate fully supports domestic production in the country.
“Afghanistan has important and rich factors for industrial production, which can become one of the important industrial centers in the region. The growth of industry will be the basis for the growth of other economic sectors, especially agriculture,” said Hanafi.
Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, added that the IEA has programs in the fields of industry development and support for the private sector that will make Afghanistan self-sufficient.
Azizi stated that Afghanistan’s industrial sector is currently progressing and the quality of export goods has also improved.
Some investors said at the ceremony that after the return of the IEA, the country’s exports have increased and the number of manufacturing companies has also increased.
This expo is open to visitors for seven days, and industrial products are showcased in 450 booths.
Women in business also attended the meeting.
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