From: U.S. Department of the Treasury <subscriptions@subscriptions.treas.gov>
Date: Thu, Jun 26, 2014 at 8:34 AM
Subject: Treasury's Office of Technical Assistance Supports Growing Economies Across Latin America
To: iammejtm@gmail.com
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My recent visit to Colombia and Peru highlighted the important work that U.S. Treasury's Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) is doing with two of the most vibrant economies in Latin America to help build capacity in public financial management and promote economic growth and stability in the region. While Colombia and Peru are among the strongest economies in the continent, they also face shared challenges of assuring that economic opportunity benefits a broader swath of their populations, developing their infrastructure, and combatting criminal activity such as drug trafficking and money laundering. During my trip, I saw firsthand how OTA is collaborating with the Colombian and Peruvian governments to provide support in several areas relevant to these economic and security challenges. In Peru, our work is centered on developing the country's infrastructure, combatting economic crimes, and expanding access to financial services for underserved sectors of the population. Specifically, over the past year, our resident Treasury advisor in Peru has worked closely with the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Peruvian institution responsible for investment promotion and public-private infrastructure projects. By implementing best international practices, OTA is helping the Peruvian government to structure its infrastructure projects in ways that will attract private capital and avoid the government taking on unsustainable financial liabilities. We are also working effectively with Peru's financial intelligence unit and others in the country's anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime. OTA facilitated a series of roundtable discussions among police, prosecutors, and the financial intelligence unit – and separately with judges – that increased awareness among the institutions of their respective roles in combatting economic crimes and improved inter-agency coordination. Based on these encouraging results, we plan to increase our engagement from an intermittent to a full-time OTA AML/CFT resident project. Finally, through a partnership with Peru's Superintendent of Banking, Insurance and Private Pension Fund Administrators, OTA is also helping to promote financial inclusion. Peru is seen as a regional leader in expanding access to financial services to underserved sectors of the population. Its partnership with OTA has enabled counterparts in other countries, such as the Dominican Republic and Guatemala, to benefit from the shared experiences and expertise of U.S. and Peruvian financial inclusion practitioners. In Colombia, OTA's work is primarily focused on revenue generation and management, helping the tax administration to work effectively with multinational businesses and developing audit procedures that are uniformly applied and more amenable to quality control and internal audit.
For over 20 years, OTA has helped developing and transitional countries manage their government finances more effectively and grow their economies. OTA currently has 105 active programs in 50 countries, and each one plays a role in strengthening the global economy. For more information about OTA, click here.
Larry McDonald is Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Technical Assistance at the United States Department of the Treasury.
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Jeremy Tobias Matthews
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