closing remarks by dr. chiranjibi nepal, governor, nepal rastra bank, at the 21st apg plenary meeting 27th july 2018, kathmandu distinguished apg co ‐ chairs, executive secretary and officials of apg fatf senior officials, distinguished delegates, ncc members and secretaries nepalese officials media representatives, ladies and gentlemen, very good afternoon! 1. i am privileged to speak at conclusion of this 21st apg plenary meetings running for a week. i am indeed honored to be with you at this august gathering with a brief closing remarks. 2. it is an immense pleasure for nepal to host this meeting and plenary. i am very much delighted with the apg and its members, fatf, the observers, and international institutions for the opportunity extended to us to host this occasion in kathmandu. 3. i have been informed that the meetings discussed mutual evaluation reports of indonesia, myanmar, palau, and cook islands. number of follow up reports and status reports were also considered in the course of meetings. intense discussions were made on mutual evaluation procedures, governance issues, technical as well as other seminars under international cooperation review group have been eyesight for members and observers. 4. the ta & t forum was another great opportunity for members and dap groups to sit together and find solutions for development of sound aml / cft systems and make effective global implementation. 5. managing de ‐ risking, identification of beneficial ownership and recovery of assets are the common threats facing by countries globally. i hope the conclusion from the seminar and discussion on these topics will certainly guide us to reorient our aml / cft related strategy toward addressing such problems. ladies and gentleman, 6. financial crime can inflict on the smooth functioning of the financial markets, payment systems and ultimately the financial sector stability goal of central banks. fin ‐ tech and virtual currencies are also posturing challenges to the central banks in dealing with aml issues. 7. the shift of fatf standards toward risk ‐ based approach, will support our financial system in the direction of inclusive growth and access to better financial services by discouraging the de ‐ risking. 8. the basel 2017 aml index report shows, during the period from 2012 – 2017, the index did not reflected significant change, indicating slow progress, high rates of perceived corruption, lack of judicial strength, lack of resources, and deficiency of financial transparency in the developing world. in addition to this, a large ‐ scale of tax evasion

as a credit to their members for different income generating activities. in this regard, cooperatives are felt to be an important provider of rural financial services to spurt inclusive growth. ladies and gentlemen, government of nepal in financial sector development strategy ( fsds ), issued in january 6, 2017 has recognized the importance of the cooperative sector to achieve economic development and in this regard, has devoted a separate chapter to its elaboration. this is recognition of importance of cooperative sector in economic development ; however government of nepal and nepal rastra bank ( nrb ) have already been involving themselves in the policy formulation and program initiation regarding the rural financing since almost four decades. i would highlight that nrb has also joined hands with the government to establish and manage a wholesale lending fund, that is the rural self - reliance fund, which lends concessional fund to the cooperatives of rural areas for further lending to the deprived and poor households. the establishment of five rural development banks in five development regions during 1990s decade to do micro financing activities replicating grameen model is another instance on nrb's commitment on enhancing access to finance for rural poor. currently, these banks have been merged. we are also exercising to harness the mechanism of technology to enhance its inclusive nature with regard to rural financing. ladies and gentlemen, allow me at this juncture to provide a glimpse of nepal ’ s experiences with regard to rural financing. the country is basically a rural economy with more than 80 percent of its population residing in rural areas. it is expected that nepalese economy will perform very well in 2016 / 17, registering a growth of 6. 9 percent. this trend is expected to continue in the current fiscal year 2017 / 18, given the series of election are going to be held, which is expected to raise domestic demand. as the agriculture sector presently contributes more than one - third to the country's gross domestic product ( gdp ) and employs more than two - third of total labor force, economic growth of the country is largely determined by the performance of the agriculture sector. moreover, a better performing agriculture is instrumental in promoting rural jobs, improving trade imbalance, reducing poverty and fostering equitable distribution of income. ladies and gentlemen, cictab, set up in 1983, has been providing an effective forum for exchange of experience in agricultural banking and related fields between different developing countries of this region. in this respect, i am delighted to note that some of the innovative financial products and services developed and mainstreamed