On 5 March 2021, the Council of Europe Economic Crime and Cooperation Division organised – in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan – a coordination meeting aimed at discussing the authorities’ priorities in the areas of business integrity, fight against corruption and anti-money laundering/countering terrorist financing (AML/CFT) and identifying ways for effective cooperation.

The event gathered representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Supreme Court, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Institute of State, Law and Democracy, as well as the European Union Delegation in Turkmenistan. The online meeting provided a platform for presenting and discussing the workplan of the project on “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime (CA TAEC)”, including its regional and country-specific dimensions. The project team provided an overview of the wide range of areas in which the authorities of Turkmenistan could benefit from the Council of Europe technical assistance – such as the assistance and support to enhance protection of the rights of entrepreneurs, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and asset recovery systems. In this regard, special emphasis was put on the fact that project activities will be tailor-made and fully streamlined with country’s priorities. All present beneficiary institutions were therefore encouraged to identify the priority areas for which they would need the Council of Europe technical assistance and expertise.

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