KARACHI: Pakistani delegation of experts has reached Beijing to participate in the three-day talks with the Asia Pacific Group (APG) of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) starting January 21.
The global money laundering watchdog is holding face-to-face meetings ahead of its plenary session in Paris next month to decide Pakistan’s fate as the South Asian nation makes efforts to avoid blacklisting.
The Pakistani team headed by Minister for Economic Affairs Division, Hammad Azhar, will discuss the progress made on the implementation of 22 action points, out of 27, suggested by the global watchdog while the country claims to have complied with five.
The FATF working group technical team will review Pakistan’s 650-page report filed on January 8, 2020 in response to the 150 questions by the Working Group raised on the country’s initial progress report submitted on December 03, 2019 regarding the implementation of the 27-point action plan.
Pakistan is hopeful to win a ‘largely-compliant’ rating by FATF even if it does not make it out of the grey-list at the moment, which can buy the country more time for full compliance.
“Based on the results we have provided to FATF, we are optimistic. On majority of action items, we are complaint and have made reasonable and significant progress,” Mansoor Hassan Siddiqui, Director General of Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) of Pakistan’s central bank, told Arab News last week.
In October last year, FATF gave Pakistan until February 2020 to make swift progress on the given action plan after observing that the country had only made “limited progress” to curb terrorism financing and money laundering.
Pakistan has amended its laws dealing with anti-money laundering proposing harsh punishment and enhanced financial penalties. Country’s suggested amendments in Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947 (FERA) and Anti Money Laundering Act (AMLA) 2010 were passed by the parliament are in process of being promulgated as law.
Pakistan is also taking steps to safeguard saving schemes against ill-gotten money and terror financing through promulgation of National Savings Schemes (AML-CFT) Rules, 2019.
“Pakistan has made substantial progress and is compliant to large extent but we are not fully compliant so far. In the upcoming plenary meeting that will be held in Paris we need three votes to avoid blacklisting that we have,” Muzamil Aslam, senior economists who is closely monitoring the developments, told Arab News. “We are not going to be blacklisted.”
Amid growing opposition from arch rival India, Pakistan has also enhanced its diplomatic efforts ahead of the next month’s meeting to avoid blacklisting especially the recent visit of Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, to United States where he sought US support and hoped that the it would back Pakistan in the upcoming meeting.
“America will be the swing factor. If the US supports Pakistan on the progress we made against terror financing and terrorism, we can immediately move out of the grey-list to white,” Aslam commented.
Pakistani delegation in Beijing to face FATF review starting Tuesday
https://arab.news/2ttts
Pakistani delegation in Beijing to face FATF review starting Tuesday
- The country will discuss progress made on 22 action points while claims to have complied with five
- The three-day talks come ahead of global watchdog’s plenary session in February
Pakistan to raise special force to guard Balochistan minerals as Barrick reviews Reko Diq project — official
- Barrick decision follows coordinated separatist attacks in several districts across Balochistan last Saturday that killed over 50 civilians and security personnel
- Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is the site of a decades-long insurgency by Baloch separatist groups who often attack security forces, foreigners
KARACHI: Pakistan has decided to boost intelligence network and raise a special force to guard the mineral-rich Balochistan province and its borders with Iran and Afghanistan, a provincial government official said on Saturday.
The development comes days after Canadian giant Barrick Mining Corporation said it planned to “immediately” begin a comprehensive review of all aspects of the multibillion-dollar Reko Diq copper-gold project in Balochistan.
Barrick decision followed coordinated separatist attacks by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) group in several districts across Balochistan last Saturday that killed 36 civilians and 22 security personnel. Authorities said they had killed 216 militants in follow-up operations.
Mineral-rich Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is the site of a decades-long insurgency waged by Baloch separatist groups who often attack security forces, foreigners and non-local Pakistanis and kidnap government officials.
“In light of the terrorists events, the provincial government in tandem with security forces is redesigning the entire security architecture,” Shahid Rind, an aide to Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti for media and political affairs, told Arab News.
“This includes raising of dedicated Frontier Corps for the mineral-bearing area, securing both borders i.e. Iran and Afghanistan.”
Arab News reached out to Pakistan’s information minister, Attaullah Tarar, but he did not respond to questions seeking comment on the matter.
The Balochistan government will also beef up intelligence network and work closely with mining companies in the region.
“The Balochistan government is extremely serious about foreign investment in the province and considers Reko Diq as the flag-bearer of foreign investment,” Rind said.
“The provincial government will do whatever is necessary to maintain that.”
The recent attacks have apparently alarmed international investors, especially Barrick, which is developing one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines in Balochistan.
“As we stated in our public documents, Barrick is undertaking a review of all aspects of the Reko Diq project, including with respect to the project’s security arrangements, development timetable and capital budget,” a Barrick spokesperson said in response to an Arab News email.
In a Feb. 5 statement issued with its fourth-quarter financial results, Barrick said the Reko Diq project “continued to advance site works in Q4, although in light of a recent increase in security incidents, management is currently reviewing all aspects of the project.”
“The review will begin immediately,” the Barrick spokesperson said. “An update will be provided when the review has been completed.”
Barrick owns 50 percent share in Reko Diq, along with three Pakistani federal state-owned enterprises that own 25 percent, while the Balochistan government has the remaining 25 percent share in the project.
The project is expected to begin production in 2028 and is central to Pakistan’s hopes of boosting mineral exports and attracting foreign investment into its underdeveloped mining sector. Despite heightened threats in Balochistan, development linked to the project continues in other parts of the country.
Barrick is expected to start investing in Pakistan’s port infrastructure soon as it prepares for exports.
Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Ltd. (PIBT), the country’s first dirty bulk terminal located at Port Qasim in Karachi, will host dedicated facilities to ship Reko Diq’s output.
PIBT CEO Sharique Azim Siddiqui told Arab News this week that Barrick would invest $150 million to build a shed and upgrade other dedicated facilities to handle shipments of copper-gold concentrate once Reko Diq production begins in 2028.
Barrick’s Pakistani subsidiary, Reko Diq Mining Company, last week signed an export agreement with PIBT under which the miner will export 800,000 tons of copper and gold concentrate through the terminal in the first phase, doubling the volume in the second phase, according to Siddiqui.
Revived in 2022 after years of legal disputes, the Reko Diq project is billed by the government as a transformative investment for Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least developed province.
But persistent militant activity and rising attacks targeting security forces, state institutions and infrastructure have raised concerns among investors.
The latest separatist attacks, one of the deadliest flare-ups in Balochistan in recent years, have prompted large-scale security operations across the province as authorities continue their hunt for militant facilitators.
Siddiqui said the recent surge in militancy in Balochistan remains a concern for them.
“Security challenges have always been there in Pakistan. The investors do realize that, and we take it in our stride, and we hope for the best,” Siddiqui said.
“If there is no security for the cargo movement, then that’s going to hurt that (Reko Diq) project and hurt everyone.”
