Shillong hosts strategic 14th BIMSTEC meet
SHILLONG, July 20: With Shillong serving as the strategic hub, seven BIMSTEC nations have finalised a collective action plan to choke the illicit financial pipelines that sustain cross-border crime and insurgency across the Bay of Bengal region.
The 14th meeting of the BIMSTEC Sub-Group on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism concluded on Monday, shifting the focus from bureaucratic policy to operational action against the funds that fuel regional militancy, smuggling, and the drug trade.
BIMSTEC is short for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.
The meeting reviewed progress made since the 13th meeting of the sub-group and exchanged views on national AML/CFT developments, emerging risks, evolving typologies, and good practices.
Recognising the increasingly transnational and technology-driven nature of financial crime, the member-states underscored the importance of strengthening regional cooperation, timely information sharing, capacity building, and the effective use of technology to enhance national and regional AML/CFT frameworks.
As a key outcome, the meeting finalised the Paper on Illicit Flow of Funds (IFF) and the Action Plan to Prevent Illicit Financial Flows in the BIMSTEC region, as well as the Memorandum of Understanding on Capacity Building for Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, further strengthening the regional framework for cooperation, capacity building and collective action against financial crime.
The meeting also agreed to develop a BIMSTEC AML/CFT Work Plan (2026–2028). It emphasised the operationalisation of the BIMSTEC AML/CFT Contact Point Network to deepen cooperation among financial intelligence units.
The meeting further discussed ways to effectively leverage BIMSTEC’s observer status in the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering to enhance regional capacity building, facilitate knowledge sharing, and strengthen the member-states’ preparedness for forthcoming FATF mutual evaluations.
The member-states also held substantive discussions on emerging risks associated with virtual assets, fintech platforms, artificial intelligence, trade-based money laundering, online fraud, and other cyber-enabled financial crimes.
The meeting underscored the need for stronger regulatory frameworks, enhanced public-private partnerships, improved analytical capabilities, and closer regional and international cooperation to address these evolving challenges effectively.
The meeting adopted its report and referred it to the 11th meeting of the BIMSTEC Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime for consideration.
