Prefetto MARINO, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen
As the acting Chairman of the Working Group on Organised Crime, it is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to this Seminar in the eternal City of Rome.
When, during last year Working Group Conference in Berne, and subsequently at the "Loreley" Chiefs' Conference in Germany, I proposed that such a seminar would be appropriate, I was very happy to find that not only my idea met with the approval of most Member Services, but that our Italian friends readily agreed to host it.
Again, I would like to express my gratitude to Prefetto MARINO and his team for their preparatory work, as well as for their hospitality.
As we are all well aware, organized crime constitutes one of today's fastest growing and expanding branches of criminal activity, with far-reaching connections into financial, economic and even government institutions around the world.
In order to be able to fight effectively these activities, a close cooperation, together with a continuous information exchange between the organized crime specialists of our services is not only of mutual interest but - in my view - absolutely essential.
Under the guidance of SISDe's experts, this seminar should lead towards a better understanding of the overall problem, as well as serve as a means to support the relevant specialists of all Member Services in our mutual endeavours towards a common goal.
In this respect, I wish you successful and satisfactory days in Rome and hope to see you again - this time as greatly advanced organized crime specialists - in Berne, later this year.