Parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann departed for Washington, DC on Wednesday in a trip that represents the latest sign of a cozier relationship between the United States and Myanmar.
This isn’t the first time he’s been there (that was in 2013) but the visit comes less than a week after the US took businessman Win Aung off a sanctions blacklist and nearly a month after the government signed a deal with US lobbying firm Podesta for $840,000 a year to help it strengthen ties in Washington.
The deal was later blasted by Aung San Suu Kyi in an interview with Radio Free Asia.
Shwe Mann, who expressed interest in being Myanmar’s next president on his last trip, will spend a week in Washington and New York, meeting with members of congress and business groups, the Myanmar Times reported.
U Hla Myint Oo, head of the International Relations Committee in parliament, which is going on the trip along with a handful of other officials, said the delegation may sit down with Podesta.
“[Podesta] will have to work for the sake of the whole country. I think they will want to know some information about parliament,” he said. “I hope we will meet with them.”
For those in the DC area on Friday, Shwe Mann will take part in a conversation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, for which you’ll need to register.
Photo of Shwe Mann (R) in parliament: Facebook/H.E. Thura U Shwe Mann
