Indonesia has entered the stage of mutual evaluation review (MER) from July 18 to August 4, 2022, as a requirement for full FATF membership. The results of the assessment will be announced in February 2023.
"By becoming a full member, Indonesia can make a greater contribution to the FATF and the world," Indrawati remarked at the B20 Integrity and Compliance Task Force conference, which was followed online from here on Wednesday.
In an MER conducted by the Asia/Pacific Group (APG) in 2018, Indonesia was considered to have adequately met the international standards regarding anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorism financing (CTF), she pointed out.
The government also received a response from the APG regarding its recent voluntary tax compliance program, which, the APG concluded, did not meet the policy requirements of the APG Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC).
However, Indonesia has still adhered to the basic principles of the FATF to demonstrate a strong and consistent commitment to upholding FATF standards.
The director general of taxes at the Finance Ministry has also renewed a cooperation agreement with the Attorney General's Office, including customs, to improve the coordination of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing cases, she said.
"Criminals now use so many places to launder money that it is known as organized crime or syndicated crime," she added.
Several strategic priorities of the FATF are very much in line with Indonesia's priorities, like improving beneficial ownership transparency, increasing the effectiveness of recovering criminal assets, and utilizing digital transformation, she noted.
Digital transformation is also one of the priority agendas of the Indonesian G20 Presidency. In addition, 11 jurisdictions in Asia ratified the Bali Declaration or the Asia Initiative Declaration in July 2022 to push for tax transparency for sustainable domestic resource utilization in the region.
The Asia Initiative is meant to assist in tackling tax evasion, corruption, and illicit financial flows, to ultimately promote the utilization of domestic resources for generating much-needed revenue for the country's development.
Related news: Full FATF membership can help realize Advanced Indonesia vision
Related news: Support Indonesia's bid for full FATF membership: BNPT
Translator: Agatha O V, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
