US Ambassador to Kuwait H E Alina Romanowski affirmed that her country is ready to assist and coordinate with Kuwait, as a close friend, in any way possible to combat corruption and money laundering, including providing legal and technical assistance in this field.
Romanowski told Al-Qabas hundreds of Kuwaiti professionals and employees from various government agencies participated in the embassy’s workshops on combating money laundering, led by the US Department of Justice. One such workshop was last June.
She stated that her country and Kuwait are parties to international agreements that seek to address these issues, such as the United Nations Convention against Corruption, and “we will continue to explore additional bilateral agreements to enhance our tools and cooperation.”
She stressed that money laundering and corruption impede economic growth, foreign investment, and confidence in public institutions, as they result in problems for international financial markets and emerging economies.
She indicated that the United Nations put the amount of money laundered globally in one year at 2%-5% of the global gross domestic product, equivalent to between $800 billion and $2 trillion, adding: “Terrorists also strengthen their cases by exploiting money laundering networks, which confirms the seriousness of this problem.”