Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation secretary of state Luy David said it had carried out its duties by disseminating information about the anti-money laundering law and the law on anti-proliferation and anti-terrorism financing to foreign NGOs after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of Asia Pacific countries put Cambodia on its grey list.

The ministry held two meetings with foreign NGOs on Tuesday and Wednesday.

David told The Post on Wednesday that a meeting with the NGOs was also held last year after FATF put Cambodia on the grey list. At that time the government established two laws on combating proliferation and terrorism financing, and anti-money laundering.

“This meeting was not held because these international NGOs are involved in money laundering, but it is the ministry’s duty to disseminate the two laws to all foreign NGOs. So, we have fulfilled our duty,” David said.

There were 370 participants at the two-day meeting, representing 216 of the 356 foreign NGOs registered with the ministry.

David said the ministry also requested the NGOs to respect and follow community laws and the Law on Associations and NGOs (Lango). They also have to follow the two laws discussed at the meeting.

“We believe the meeting over the last two days went smoothly. We had question-and-answer sessions with each other.

“Those organisations seemed well aware of their duties because officials from the Ministry of Interior and the National Bank of Cambodia explained details about the laws,” he said.

A third meeting to discuss ideas between the Cambodian government and NGOs will be held next year.