OPENING REMARKSSETO Takeshi*

Distinguished experts and participants, ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure and privilege for me to announce the opening of the Thirteenth Regional
Seminar on Good Governance for Southeast Asian Countries. We sincerely welcome all of you tothis significant forum, which is taking place at UNAFEI for the second time in the history of thisseminar.
Since 2007, this seminar has been an exceptional opportunity for criminal justice practitioners
in Southeast Asian countries to share our experiences in pursuit of the eradication of corruption inthis region. The seminar has been co-hosted by UNAFEI and participating countries: it was first
held in Thailand, and then the Philippines, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and, last year, Viet Nam.
Over these twelve years, we have seen and discussed many developments in anti-corruptionlegislation and criminal justice practices in this region, including the recent acceptance of UNCAC
by Japan.
In the latest two seminars in Viet Nam, we wrapped up those efforts and developments bydiscussing “Best practices in anti-corruption: a decade of institutional and practical developmentin Southeast Asia” in the eleventh seminar and “The latest regional trends in corruption andeffective countermeasures by criminal justice authorities” in the twelfth seminar. This time, wewill address many issues which we have dealt with in our past seminars from new perspectives.
Thus, we have decided to host the seminar at UNAFEI again to make a new start in ourendeavour to fight against corruption. We are very happy and proud to show off our new UNAFEI
facility, which moved to Akishima just two years ago.
This time, in our three-day discussion, we will focus on “Effective Financial Investigation andAnti-Money-Laundering Measures for Confiscation and Asset Recovery”. Our theme is based onwhat we discussed in our third seminar in 2009 with a broader perspective to counter new andemerging corruption threats. Due to the globalization of crimes and the development of newtechnologies and financial systems in the last decade as stated above, the modus operandi ofcorruption and the laundering of corruption proceeds has become increasingly complex andsophisticated. Therefore, we find it extremely useful to revisit this topic to share the updates ofeach participating country’s current situation of corruption and laundering of corruption proceeds,legal frameworks and best practices for identification, tracing, freezing, seizure, confiscation andrecovery of proceeds of corruption.

*Director, United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders.

-9-In order to deepen our discussion, three visiting experts will give us insights on these issues.
Ms. Chi Yan Kate Cheuk, the Principal Investigator at the Independent Commission AgainstCorruption (ICAC) in Hong Kong, will lecture on Hong Kong's anti-money-laundering efforts andthe practice of financial investigation, asset recovery and international cooperation based on her
comprehensive knowledge and expertise. Another Visiting Expert, Ms. Louisa Kathryn Marion, isa Federal Prosecutor in the United States Department of Justice, specialized in investigation andprosecution of cybercrime issues. She is going to give us a lecture on financial investigations intomoney-laundering and cases involving cryptoassets. Also, Japanese expert Mr. WATANABE
Naoki, public prosecutor in the Special Investigation Department of the Tokyo District Public
Prosecutors’ Office is going to lecture on “Exclusive Investigation of Corruption Cases Involving
High Ranking Politicians/Officials and International Cooperation”.
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to our visiting experts who have joined us toshare their expertise and experiences. To all of the distinguished participants gathered here, I would
also like to thank you for taking valuable time away from your work to make precious contributions
to this seminar. I can assure you that all of us will learn from each other, and that will put us further
on the path to eliminating corruption.
In this seminar, UNAFEI has continued its practice of inviting participants from one or two
criminal justice organizations from each country. And as I said before, some of these organizations
co-hosted previous seminars. I believe this system establishes not only a personal network among
participants but also an organizational network as well. In addition, I would like to extend a warm
welcome to the two organizations from Timor-Leste which are joining this seminar for the firsttime.
I look forward to seeing this seminar provide a useful forum to exchange expertise andexperience in our common endeavour against corruption, contributing further to the promotion ofgood governance in Southeast Asia.
Thank you very much for your attention.

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