Timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the opening of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat, an OSCE High-Level Regional Conference on Countering Terrorist Financing and Organized Crime has begun in the Turkmen capital. Close collaboration among financial regulatory authorities, relevant departments and services of the region’s states with reputable international organizations is one of the key themes of representative forums hosted by our country on a regular basis. Co-organized by the Government of Turkmenistan and the OSCE Center in Ashgabat, the conference stands as another eloquent testimony to the country’s growing international reputation and wide recognition of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s initiatives aimed at tackling major tasks of regional and global development, including pooling efforts to address threats and challenges of today. The conference, which brought together representatives of OSCE departments and offices, experts from the UN and international organizations, national ministries, focused on upgrading national laws, improving data exchange and inter-agency cooperation in combating terrorist financing, and exploring the connection between terrorist financing and organized crime. The forum aims to provide detailed insights into international standards and best practices in the field to ensure financial security, peace, sustainability and social wellbeing. The conference participants expressed their gratitude to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for his extensive support of the efforts to fight terrorist financing and organized crime. Highly praising our country’s practical steps in this direction, those speaking at the conference emphasized that Turkmenistan has adopted an active position on the development of constructive regional and international cooperation as a reliable strategic partner of the OSCE and other international organizations. Foreign experts offered their expertise and experience of countering terrorist financing, having pointed out the importance of drawing up appropriate laws and conducting national risk assessments. They also shared mechanisms for inter-agency collaboration, having stressed the role of international cooperation in detecting cross-border terrorist financing channels. Turkmenistan is actively participating in the world community’s activities in this area, while attaching special significance to fostering constructive partnerships of nations to eradicate terrorist financing and organized crime. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov regards the battle as a strategic task that requires putting legal measures into practice and stepping up the efforts across the globe to completely eliminate the threat. Today, our country is taking effective steps, both nationally and internationally, to successfully tackle the problem. The speakers at the conference highlighted that OSCE participating states’ joint anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing efforts are seen as one of the priority areas of interaction within the OSCE in the context of increased cooperation in the fight against terrorism and organized crime. The conference attendees drew attention to the particular importance of the forum in enhancing constructive cooperation in the interests of universal security, sustainable development and progress in the region and throughout the world. The conference will continue tomorrow.