Government and business are natural allies in counterterrorism – Foreign Minister

November 27 

Government and business are natural allies in the fight against terrorism, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

He contributed an article to the popular daily newspaper Izvestia on the role and tasks of the Global Forum for Partnerships between Government and Businesses to Counter Terrorism, which opens Tuesday in Moscow's World Trade Center.

The forum is the result of decisions made at the G8 summit in St. Petersburg on a topic proposed by Russia, the minister writes in the article.

"The G8 Summit Declaration on Counterterrorism emphasized ‘the importance in a globalized world of working closely with our private sector partners in our efforts to counter terrorism and to bolster capacity to protect our citizens and businesses as they pursue their work and leisure,'" Lavrov writes.

The G8 leaders welcomed the Global Forum and pledged to closely cooperate "within the G8, with other States and with business partners to make this initiative a sustained and successful process."

"It is also important that the Forum will crown Russia's G8 presidency," the minister writes.

Lavrov notes that apart from the G8 delegates, the forum will be attended by about 400 high-ranking representatives of government, business and international organizations, including Italian aeronautical holding Finmeccanica, Anglo Platinum (the world's leading primary producer of platinum group metals), German engineering concern Siemens, Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor, the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, telecommunications operator Deutsche Telekom, Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier, French bank Societe Generale, and New York-based Citigroup.

Russian representatives include diamond monopoly Alrosa, metals giant Norilsk Nickel, aluminum holding Rusal, financial holding Interros, state-controlled foreign trade bank Vneshtorgbank, steel group Mechel, MDM Bank, which is one of the country's top 30 banks in terms of assets, and Intourist.

Small and medium-sized businesses have also confirmed their intention to participate.

"The wide range of companies in attendance is proof of the business community's desire to join forces with governments in the fight against terrorism," Lavrov writes.

According to the minister, the forum should adopt a strategy of public-private partnership for counterterrorism, whose key element will be mutually beneficial cooperation based on goodwill, equality, trust and respect for each other's interests.

"The strategy should help the partners understand their role, tasks and responsibility in the counterterrorist effort, and pinpoint the areas where the efforts of government and business could organically and effectively complement each other," Lavrov writes. "Government and business are natural allies in the fight against terrorism."

"We are convinced that a pragmatic approach, initiative and professional knowledge will help businesses make a substantial contribution to governments' counterterrorist efforts and, most importantly, ensure the safety of the people and protect our society and its values from terrorism," the minister writes.

"For example, international trafficking in precious metals and diamonds in estimated in astronomical sums. Part of these illegal funds are used to finance terrorism. Companies working in this sector have announced an initiative to combine the possibilities of government and business to create an effective global system for preventing the smuggling of precious metals. I repeat, the objective is not only to stop the financing of terrorism, but also to cut short the criminal possibilities of this business."

"Another promising idea was proposed by Finmeccanica and provides for setting up a public/private consultative board to ensure protected and effective communication between critical infrastructures, in particular in the energy sector. The initiative on insuring against terrorism has been advanced as part of the objective to protect the rights of terrorism victims. These are only a few of the multitude of ideas the forum will discuss," the minister writes.

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