418 Besides this legal framework to combat money laundering, Ethiopia’s financial institutions do not engage in transactions involving significant proceeds from serious crimes. For this reason, the country is not rated as vulnerable to money laundering by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.29 Ethiopia should strive hard to maintain this reputation. III. Recommendations 419 The APR Panel recommends that Ethiopia: • Encourage open public debate on the magnitude and incidence of corruption in the country; (Ministry of Justice; FEACC) • Strengthen the human and logistical capacity of FEACC in fighting corruption; (Ministry of Finance; FEACC) • Speed up the ratification of the Anti-Money Laundering Bill; (Federal House of Representatives) and, • Expedite the establishment of the Financial Intelligence Unit to fight the nascent but growing threat posed by money laundering. (NBE; Ethiopia Police) Objective Five: Accelerating Regional Integration by Participating in the Harmonisation of Monetary, Trade and Investment Policies I. Summary of the CSAR 420 The CSAR notes the Ethiopian Government’s commitment towards regional integration. The country is a founding member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) founded in 1994 to replace the Preferential Trade Area (PTA). Since then, Ethiopia has signed and ratified most of the COMESA legal instruments and Protocols and actively participated in and adhered to its regional economic integration objectives and goals. Ethiopia also participates in the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) and is a member of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Exports originating 29 Every year, U.S. officials from agencies with anti-money laundering responsibilities meet to assess the money laundering situations in 200 jurisdictions, including Ethiopia. The review includes an assessment of the significance of financial transactions in the country’s financial institutions that involve proceeds of serious crime, steps taken or not taken to address financial crime and money laundering, each jurisdiction’s vulnerability to money laundering, the conformance of its laws and policies to international standards, the effectiveness with which the government has acted, and the government’s political will to take needed actions. - 170 -