Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia at the 22nd Anniversary of the National Movement for Anti-Money Laundering and Prevention of Terrorism Financing, at the State Palace, Jakarta Special Capital Region, April 17, 2024

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamu ‘alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

Good afternoon.

May prosperity be upon all of us.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude for the hard work of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center/INTRAC (PPATK), ministries and institutions, which has enabled Indonesia to become a full member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing since October 2023.

Sometimes I felt embarrassed to see that among the G20 members, Indonesia was the only country that had not joined the FATF, while the other members have been accepted as full members of the FATF. Therefore, we must give a big round of applause for the hard work of the PPATK, and ministries/institutions, because it is not easy to be accepted as an FATF member. Such acceptance serves as an international recognition for the effectiveness of our regulations, our coordination, and our implementation on the ground on anti-money laundering and prevention of terrorism financing in our country, Indonesia.

I hope that this full membership will serve as a good momentum to further strengthen our commitment to preventing and eradicating Money Laundering Crime, so that our economic credibility will increase, and then the perception towards our financial system will also improve and be more positive, as this is very important. And, ultimately this will encourage a great deal of investment to enter our country Indonesia. Reputation is important, international recognition is important.

Distinguished guests,

Money Laundering Crime must be dealt with in a comprehensive manner. We must be two or three steps ahead of the perpetrators in building international cooperation, strengthening regulations and transparency, enforcing the law without discrimination, and leveraging technology, this is important. We must always be aware of new technology-based schemes in Money Laundering Crime, such as cryptocurrency, virtual assets like NFT (non-fungible tokens), market activity, electronic money, AI (Artificial Intelligence) which are used in  automate transactions, etc., because technology is currently changing very rapidly.

Data from Crypto Crime Report even found indications of money laundering through crypto assets amounting to US$8.6 billion in 2022 or equivalent to Rp139 trillion globally. It’s a very large amount. This means that Money Laundering Crime perpetrators are constantly looking for new ways. So, we can’t lose, we can’t be less sophisticated, we can’t be outdated, we can’t lose our pace, we have to move fast, we have to be ahead of them. Otherwise, we will always be left behind.

In addition to Money Laundering Crime, we also have to stay alert to the threats of terrorism financing. We have to continuously monitor this crime and nip it in the bud. And, I hope that PPATK and related ministries and institutions can continue to improve their synergy and innovation.

Lastly, I order you to make maximum efforts to save and return state money, and thus, confiscation of [illegally obtained] assets become crucial and we have to oversee its implementation. As we know, we have pushed for the submission of the bill on Asset Confiscation and also the bill on Restriction on the Use of Cash to the House of Representatives, and now the House is still processing both bills. We have to restore what belongs rightfully to the state and the people. All parties who commit violations must be held responsible for the state losses they have caused.

That concludes my remarks. Once again, congratulations.

I thank you.

Wassalamu ’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

(TM/RAS/MUR)