On 12 April 2022, a co-ordination meeting with the national authorities of Turkmenistan was held online aiming at presenting and discussing technical support activities for the current year as well as identifying additional assistance needs in the field of anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism. The activity was marked by the recent approval of the project’s annual plan of activities by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan in co-ordination with relevant beneficiary authorities.

The meeting gathered state autorities of Turkmenistan including representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Justice, the Financial Monitoring Service, the National Bank of Turkmenistan, the Civil Service Academy and the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.

Mr Diego Ruiz Alonso, European Union Ambassador to Turkmenistan, addressed the participants during the opening session, highlighting the importance of the close co-ordination process among the authorities of Turkmenistan, the Council of Europe and the European Union in the delivery of technical assistance. The event facilitated an exchange of opinions on support activities to further consolidate the anti-corruption system and anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism framework in Turkmenistan as well as the protection of the rights of entrepreneurs and corporate compliance tools in the business sector.

In co-operation with the national authorities of Turkmenistan, it is planned to carry out a comprehensive set of activities, including legislative/regulatory and strategic reviews, risk assessments, capacity building and training activities in the following fields:

• Strengthening business integrity and transparency;
• Reducing administrative barriers for entrepreneurs and promoting the respect of entrepreneurs’ rights;
• Improving the capacities of authorities to prevent corruption through policy advice in the field of anti-corruption reform;
• Enhancing the capacities of law enforcement authorities to tackle corruption, money laundering and economic crime;
• Strengthening the national system to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.

It is foreseen to continue joint work with the autorities of Turkmenistan on the national priorities in the areas identified during the meeting.

This activity was organised in the framework of the action “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime” within the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2023, which is a joint initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. The action is aimed at strengthening capacities to fight and prevent economic crime in five Central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.