sultan bin nasser al - suwaidi : uae efforts in encountering money laundering and combating terrorism financing speech by his excellency sultan bin nasser al - suwaidi, governor of the central bank of the united arab emirates and chairman of the national anti - money laundering committee, at the fourth annual conference of the national anti - money laundering committee, ras al khaimah, 20 - 21 december 2006. * * * your highness, sheikh saoud bin saqer al qasimi, crown prince and deputy ruler of ras al khaimah ( may allah protect him ) your highnesses ladies & gentlemen, i would like personally and on behalf of my brothers namlc members, to first express my gratitude to h. h. sheikh saqer bin mohamed al qasimi, member of the higher council of the federal, ruler of rak ( may allah protect him ), for his continuous support to federal institutions, including our committee. i would also like, on behalf of all of you, to thank h. h. sheikh saoud bin saqer al qasimi for his presence and patronage of this conference. your highnesses ladies & gentlemen, i warmly welcome you to namlc fourth annual conference which is held this year in ras al khaimah emirate under the title : “ role of economic development departments, free trade zone authorities and customs departments in implementing laws and regulations regarding encountering money laundering and combating terrorism financing ”. the presence of h. h. sheikh saoud bin saqer al qasimi with us today is considered a support to uae efforts in encountering money laundering and combating terrorism financing and an incentive to develop our procedures and regulations applied with regard to encountering money laundering and combating terrorism financing, in a way that enhances economic development and ensures a suitable environment for investment, characterized by transparency and stability in the country. your highnesses, ladies & gentlemen, the uae confirmed, since its establishment, a strategy to continuously combat all types of crime and to confront criminals through establishing strict laws, approving preventive penalties as well as setting the appropriate legal rules in all areas. and with the obvious increase in money laundering activities and terrorism crimes around the globe, uae set as a priority a clearly defined strategy to encounter such dangers. the strategy comprises the following : 1. joining international and regional efforts in encountering money laundering and combating terrorism financing. this is manifest in joining and authenticating international and regional conventions and initiatives

concerned with combating financial crimes in the uae, gcc countries, sister arab countries and all countries in the region. the number of conferences, seminars and workshops held to - date exceeds ( 350 ). and the uae shall continue to support training and development of skills, with the cooperation of friendly countries. 5 due to the huge achievements reached by the uae in establishing the legal, organizational and supervisory frameworks as well as the aml / cft regulations and procedures, it has received commendation from international and regional organizations for such achievements. uae has also contributed to training staff of the concerned authorities responsible for encountering money laundering and combating financing of terrorism in some regional countries, in addition to participating with ( fatf ) in the mutual evaluation of some countries. your highnesses, ladies & gentlemen, in conclusion, i would like to express my thanks and gratitude to h. h. sheikh saoud bin saqer al qasimi, crown prince and deputy ruler of ras al khaimah ( may allah protect him ) for his kind presence and patronage of this conference. thanks extend to his brothers, their highnesses sheikhs, for their sincere efforts, wishing ras al khaimah more progress and prosperity. i would also like to thank our guests, representatives of usa, uk, france, italy and spain and to my brothers, namlc members and to all audience. wishing you success in this conference.