"If we can stop the funding for terrorist activities we can put a dampener on their activities," he told the opening session of an international conference on money laundering and terrorist financing.
"By cutting funding we can interrupt their (terrorists') progress and stop their agenda.
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To do so, countries need to equip their law enforcement agencies, regulators, media, bankers and prosecutors with a better understanding of the problem and ways to tackle it.
"We have to learn from each other and share experiences," Cabraal told the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) typologies workshop.
Typologies work is the study of methods, techniques and trends of money laundering and terrorist financing.
The conference in Colombo aims to bring together law enforcement authorities, regulators and experts as well as private sector representatives.
The Asi