The 17th Asian Regional Conference held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from February 18-21 was attended by 31 Asian nations, 8 observer countries from Europe and North America, and two observer international organizations. The Conference concluded its deliberations with the following findings and recommendations:

Findings: This diverse region, covering nations of the globe from the Middle East to the South Pacific found common agreement on a range of substantive and topical matters. Since the September 11th terrorist attacks in the United States, police throughout the region have expanded their programs and attention to the issue of terrorism .

The 17th Asian Regional Conference concluded that terrorist organizations operate across borders both in obtaining the instruments of terror such as false documents, weapons and explosives as well as sharing among themselves techniques. The terrorists are funded by a co-mingling of legal and illegal sources of income and increasingly use alternative, financial payment systems such as Hawala and Hundi. As this terrorist threat remains a major concern, the delegates focused attention on upcoming major world events such as the World Cup Games to be held in Korea and Japan where impressive preparations for security are already underway. Further because of the ease with which terrorists cross borders, the delegates agreed that:

1. There should be no gap in the countries that can avail themselves of the services of INTERPOL;
   
   
2. Those services must include enhanced and modern systems of communication among national police agencies; and that the provision of INTERPOL services in the Asia region must be strengthened.

Recommendations from the 17th INTERPOL Asian Regional Conference:

1. Member Countries unanimously agreed that they have found that terrorism remains a major police concern throughout Asia and there must be a uniform approach from Member Countries to combat it.
   
   
2. Immediate steps should be taken to support the National Police Authorities in Korea and Japan in their security preparations for the World Cup to be held from May 31 to June 30, 2002. The INTERPOL Secretariat in Lyon, France is asked to provide all necessary assistance to ensure that the services of INTERPOL are available to assist in security preparations and all nations in the region are asked to pay special heed to criminal activities including terrorism and hooliganism that might be of interest to the Korean and Japanese authorities in order to prevent disruption of the games.
   
   
3. Three important nations in the Central Asian region, (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan) will be encouraged to take all the necessary steps to join INTERPOL and every effort will be made by the INTERPOL Secretariat to help them to achieve membership this year.
   
   
4. The INTERPOL Secretariat should take all the steps necessary to enhance the capabilities of its Bangkok, Thailand Asian office to service the unique needs of the region, including increasing the number of police officers assigned.
   
   
5. The INTERPOL Secretariat should move with great dispatch to develop the new, secure communications system that will serve the needs of not only the region but all of its 179 Member Countries.