Harry Ho-jen Tseng
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of China (Taiwan)
May 26, 2021
(As Prepared for Delivery)
Fellow instructors, experts, and participants:
Good morning from Taipei!
On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I would like to extend my warmest welcome to all the online participants from around the world joining us today for the 2021 Global Cooperation and Training Framework Workshop on Anti-Money Laundering.
The GCTF was launched by Taiwan and the United States in 2015, and joined by Japan as a full partner in 2019. With growing interest and joint efforts from like-minded countries, the GCTF has continued to expand. It serves as a multilateral platform for Taiwan to contribute its expertise in response to emerging global issues. On the issue of law enforcement, the GCTF has hosted four workshops to discuss international cooperation and engagement on transnational crime and forensic science, anti-corruption, trade secrets protection and digital piracy prevention, and combating COVID-19-related crimes.
Today, at the GCTF's fifth workshop on law enforcement, we're pleased to have a distinguished lineup of experts and law enforcement officials to address how to combat money laundering. This issue is particularly relevant during the pandemic, when reliance on internet transactions has grown and online money laundering by hackers and the concealment of illegal proceeds and other criminal activities have thrived.
I would like to thank the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau, the American Institute in Taiwan, the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, and the Australian Office Taipei for jointly making this event possible by inviting instructors from around the world to share their experience of anti-money laundering. We are especially pleased to have Dr. Gordon Hook, Executive Secretary of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering, as one of the speakers today. Executive Secretary Hook has a wealth of experience and knowledge in the field of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. We are all looking forward to hearing him share his expertise.
I believe that today's workshop will be a great opportunity for partners from like-minded countries to exchange experiences and law enforcement practices on anti-money laundering issues. Generous sharing from our speakers will strengthen the groundwork for a more secure, free, and open international community that upholds the rule of law and the rules-based international order.
Thank you all once again for joining us online. I am sure you'll enjoy a productive and fruitful discussion that will help create better solutions to anti-money laundering efforts in your countries. Thank you!