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The Star

US$3mil push to rebuild US ties

A Washing­ton lobbying firm has signed an agreement worth US$3mil (RM12.7mil) a year with Myanmar's Infor­mation Ministry to help the long-time military-­ruled country rebuild relations with the United States. According to documents submitted under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (Fara), the DCI Group signed the agreement with the ministry on July 31, the day Myanmar's military nominally transferred power to a civilian-­led interim government ahead of a planned election. Myanmar's leadership under military chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power in a 2021 coup and that year an Israeli-Canadian lobbyist they hired to represent them in Washington and other capitals said he had stopped his work because US sanctions on the gene­rals prevented him from being paid. The US Treasury Department, the DCI Group, the US State Department and Myanmar's Washington embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment when asked if US sanctions would affect the agreement between the Myanmar minis­try and the DCI Group. The formation of an interim government signals no change to the status quo in Myanmar, with Hlaing holding on to all major levers of power as acting president while retaining his position as chief of the armed forces. He has appeared eager to engage with US President Donald Trump's administration after years of isolation. When Trump threatened new tariffs on Myanmar's US-bound exports this month as part of his global trade offensive, he did so in a signed letter addressed personally to Hlaing. The general responded by lavi­shing praise on Trump for his 'strong leadership' while asking for lower rates and the lifting of sanctions. He said he was ready to send a negotiating team to Washington, if needed. According to the Fara filing, the DCI Group 'shall provide public affairs services to (the) client with respect to rebuilding relations between the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the United States, with a focus on trade, natu­ral resources, and humanitarian relief'. Engaging the country's junta would be a sharp departure for the United States, given US sanctions on the military leaders and the violence committed against the Rohingya minority that Washington calls genocide and crimes against humanity. — Reuters