National Conference on Promoting Public-Private Partnership in Countering the Financing of Terrorism

29 March 2019, Islamabad -  UNODC Country Office Pakistan in collaboration with the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) organized for the first time ever a national conference on promoting 'Public-Private Partnership in Countering the Financing of Terrorism', on 29 March 2019.

The Conference brought together 90 key stakeholders under one roof, from both the public and private sectors, to discuss and deliberate upon challenges and opportunities in forging a partnership to reach common objectives and goals for effectively combatting terrorism financing.

During the opening session Mr Shahzada Sultan Member NACTA, along with Mr Syed Arslan Programme Advisor UNODC, appreciated the support received from the Government of Japan in making this event  possible, and highlighted their organizational mandates, before apprising the participants of recent initiatives: including specialized training for Investigators and Prosecutors, and the upcoming public awareness campaign aimed at increasing the knowledge of citizens regarding the risks associated with terrorism financing.

The next session was chaired by Mr Sultan, during which speakers from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Pakistan Banks Association, Exchange Companies Association, Western Union, Bank Alfalah, and United Bank Ltd (UBL) highlighted the risks identified by their organizations in identifying terrorism financing, along with the measures adopted to counter. All speakers appreciated the role played by NACTA and other stakeholders in developing a national risk assessment, which has become a guiding document for both public and private institutions.

During the last session the panel members answered questions put forward by the participants, before Mr Muhammad Iqbal, Director General Counter Terrorism Financing NACTA, delivered his closing remarks; in which he noted that NACTA remained committed and available to provide strategic guidance and support to both public and private institutions and organizations in combatting terrorism including its financing.

 

The event as mentioned above was enabled by the support of the Government of Japan.