1st Preparatory Meeting of the 20th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum

When: 6 February 2012 - 7 February 2012

Where: Vienna

Organized by: Irish OSCE Chairmanship 2012 and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities

The Economic and Environmental Forum is the main annual event in the OSCE's Second Dimension. In 2012, under the Irish OSCE Chairmanship, the 20th Economic and Environmental Forum will focus on "Promoting Security and Stability through Good Governance".

The Forum process is meant to stimulate deeper political dialogue among participating States. This year the Forum will aim at generating momentum, ideas and recommendations pursuing the reinforcement of commitments undertaken by the 56 OSCE participating States in the area of good governance.

Representatives of national and international institutions, NGOs, the academia and the business community will join their efforts throughout the Forum Meetings in order to reinforce the role of the OSCE in the promotion of good governance and its support for the fulfillment of the aforementioned commitments.

 In 2012, the three main meetings composing the Forum process will be the following ones:

• The First Preparatory Meeting, which took place on 6-7 February in Vienna, addressed "Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism",

• The Second Preparatory Meeting, which was held in Dublin on 23-24 April, focussed on "Promoting Good Governance and Combating Corruption in support of Socio-Economic Development", 

• A Concluding Meeting will take place in Prague on 12-14 September 2012 and build up on the results stemmed from the two previous Meetings.

The 2012 First Preparatory Meeting examined current levels of implementation of OSCE commitments in the area of AML/CFT, identified best practices and gaps in several thematic areas, and considered renewed and deeper political commitments that can positively impact on the achievement and effectiveness of efforts to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism.