THE groundbreaking ceremony of the Liaison Office of the Embassy of the United States of America was held on 10 April 2019, at 3:30 pm, at Hilton Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw. At the ceremony, the Union Minister for International Cooperation U Kyaw Tin and US Ambassador Mr. Scot Marciel, delivered their opening remarks.

In his opening remarks, Union Minister U Kyaw Tin congratulated the US Ambassador Mr. Scot Marciel for the groundbreaking ceremony of the US Embassy Liaison Office in the capital city of Nay Pyi Taw and welcomed the move as a significant first step towards relocation of the US Embassy to Nay Pyi Taw. It demonstrated the desire of the US Embassy to work closer with the government of Myanmar, and the presence of its Liaison Office in the capital city will provide better opportunities for the Embassy to engage with the officials of various line Ministries and members of parliaments to further strengthen the bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries. The Union Minister also encourages all Diplomatic Missions and UN Agencies in Yangon to take similar steps to relocate their Office to the administrative capital to facilitate their closer engagement and coordination with the line Ministries.

Present also at the ceremony were Nay Pyi Taw Council member U Nyi Tun, senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Nay Pyi Taw Development Committee, US Embassy officials and other invited guests.

It was learnt that 16 Embassies have already reserved a total of 29 plots out of 88 plots of land allocated for Nay Pyi Taw Diplomatic Zone. Two Embassies have already leased lands and three Embassies have made or undergoing negotiations for exchange of land. The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China has already opened its Liaison Office in Nay Pyi Taw since September 2017 and new United Nations Office housing various UN Agencies was inaugurated in Nay Pyi Taw in July 2018. —MNA