Prime Minister Hon. James Marapehas called on financial regulators and financial institutions to step up the fight against money laundering without fear or favour.
Speaking at the closing of the inaugural Anti-Money Laundering (AML), CTF and CPF Conference at the APEC Haus in Port Moresby, Prime Minister Marape stated that he and his administration have never stood in the way of regulators carrying out their duties and urged public officials and authorities to step up compliance work using existing laws.
Prime Minister Marape called on accounting firms, legal firms, Police, Financial Analysis and Surveillance Unit (FASU), Asset Restraint and Recovery Working Group (ARROW), banks, and the Central Bank to follow public money and hold to account Section 32 officers across the public service structure.
He highlighted that Section 32 officers exist across districts, provinces, departments, the judiciary, and pay offices, emphasizing that public officials are funded from budgets passed every year.
The Prime Minister emphasized that he does not need to do their jobs or stop them from performing their duties.
Prime Minister Marape urged authorities to stop illegal transactions, prosecute them, and utilize the amended Proceeds of Crime Act to recover stolen money stored in domestic or offshore assets.
He stated that “money leaves trails” and “money leaves footprints.
The Prime Minister further informed that Papua New Guinea’s grey listing is not due to financing terrorism, as the country has no default fanatic-based terrorism.
Prime Minister Marape expressed hope that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recognizes this, stating that efforts to clean the financial sector are aimed at growing the economy and fixing its internal “sink hole.”
He thanked the Justice Department, Central Bank, FASU, and ARROW for working to ensure the country gets out of grey listing in 2028 and stays out permanently.
Prime Minister Marape noted that the economy is on track toward his 2019 pronouncement of becoming a K200 billion economy by 2029 or 2030.
He further highlighted that a group of over 15 financiers led by US Exim are ready to finance Papua LNG, with FID expected hopefully before 15 December this year, followed by construction, and P’nyang LNG brought on by 2030, 2032, or 2033.
Prime Minister Marape then pointed to the shift toward a digitalized economy and warned those perpetuating corruption that “your time is up.”
He concluded by stressing the necessity of building foundations that safeguard a credible, healthy economy free of money laundering to protect funding for schools, hospitals, and roads for the country’s children and future.
“You do not need to look far… Just simply do your job and follow the public money,” Prime Minister Marape said.
“The foundations, the fundamentals we build today, will safeguard a better economy that is devoid of money-laundering and illicit transactions to make our economy a credible, healthy economy.”