remember that terrorists and terrorist financiers will also surely learn from each other and wreck havoc in our respective societies, and they too, must be, obviously trying their best to be ahead of us. regulators need, therefore, to be constantly abreast of these methods, if not be ahead of them. we need to equip ourselves for this purpose by enhancing our capacity and processes to effectively meet the challenges of terrorism and terrorism financing. i am happy to say that sri lanka has made considerable headway in this regard. in the years 2005 and 2006 three key laws were enacted, namely, the convention on the suppression of terrorist financing act, the prevention of money laundering act, and the financial transactions reporting act. the ftr act created the institutional body of the fiu within the central bank, with regulatory powers and a mandate, inter alia, to formulate policies and guidelines to meet the financial action task force ( fatf ) 40 + 9 recommendations. the enactment of the necessary aml / cft legislation in sri lanka, early last year and the establishment of the financial intelligence unit soon after, demonstrates sri lanka ’ s strong commitment to the global efforts to fight financial crime and terrorism. naturally, therefore, in this effort, the areas of vulnerability have been identified and adequate measures taken to deal effectively with the weaknesses. the stakeholders also need to be adequately equipped to discharge their responsibilities effectively. we therefore, see today ’ s effort at building capacity and processes, as one of the most important pre - requisites for the implementation of an effective aml / cft regime, and we commend the world bank and all others who are involved in this endeavour. my dear friends, sri lanka has been ever mindful of its obligations in this regard and has been a pioneer in this field. long before the advent of the aml and cft legislation, certain safeguards to insulate our financial system from money launderers and terrorists were in fact put in place by us. this was done through legislation such as the exchange control act, the banking act and the customs ordinance. adequate reporting requirements were also imposed to monitor large cross - border flows of currency. “ know - your - customer ” guidelines were issued to the banks as far back as 2001. however, the ever increasing sophistication with which criminals and terrorists operate globally have made our task to fight financial crime and terrorist financing even more daunting. in the final analysis, it is clear that,

goh chok tong : staying ahead of the asian curve speech by mr goh chok tong, senior minister of the republic of singapore and chairman of the monetary authority of singapore, at barclays asia forum, singapore, 1 november 2007. * * * i extend a warm welcome to all of you, especially to those who have not come to singapore in recent years. i would also like to thank barclays for organising this asia forum as well as this weekend ’ s singapore open. i hope the singapore open will grow in prestige as you expand your presence in singapore and asia. singapore ’ s economic growth rates in the past few years have surprised many, including ourselves. we did not expect to be able to consistently achieve growth rates of above 6 % per annum as we are a mature economy. yes, we have remade our economy but the good growth was also due to the buoyant world economy and a surging asia. singapore ’ s future growth will depend not only on our own efforts but also on our ability to anticipate trends in our external environment and stay ahead of the curve. this morning, i would like to share with you how we see developments in asia and the challenges before us. political outlook let me start with the political outlook. i believe that asia will remain stable and the regional environment conducive to growth. post - 9 / 11, the world had to adjust to new insecurities posed by terrorism. in southeast asia, some radical muslim groups tried to turn the region into an islamic caliphate through terrorist acts, including suicide bombings. this threat remains, despite recent successes by security agencies in foiling attacks in indonesia and elsewhere. however, the extremists will not succeed in their political and religious goals. more importantly, although terrorist acts may disrupt our economy, its impact pales in comparison to the structural shifts in the international order led by the re - emergence of china and india. china ’ s reach is now global, in search of friends, influence, markets and resources. india is also seeking to expand its links and influence abroad. the us and japan will try to co - opt india as a countervailing weight to china. but india, while seeking to balance its relations with all three, will preserve its own independence. both china and india will compete but they will be careful not to collide. both desire stability for their continued growth. japan has adopted a more conciliatory foreign policy under prime minister yasuo fu