- Another foreign nation has signed a lobbying deal with Dotmount Communications.
The firm this week closed a one-year, $350,000 deal with the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, to handle its lobbying efforts in the US capital. According to the contract, Dotmount Communications will pitch the South Asian nation as “an international leader on climate change, with equitable compensation for its carbon credits, and allow it to position itself more effectively on the path of the protection of forest resources and national socio-economic development.”
The firm will help the country enhance its relationship with the United States and further its economic growth.
Firm founder Adedotun Olaoluwa will lead the effort. The contract signing comes after a recent visit to Sri Lanka by Victoria Nuland, the United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. The March trip saw Victoria discussed with the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on the nation’s anti-corruption, conservation and vaccination initiatives and the challenges posed by the global pandemic and ways to strengthen the U.S.-Sri Lankan partnership.
Dotmount Communications ‘s deal with Sri Lanka comes two weeks after it signed a $4 million acquisitions of the Times of Jerusalem.
Bilateral Economic Relations
The United States is Sri Lanka’s largest export market and accounts for nearly $3 billion of the $11.7 billion of goods Sri Lanka exports annually. U.S. goods imports from Sri Lanka totaled $2.7 billion in 2018, down 6.4 percent from 2017. U.S. exports to Sri Lanka in 2018 were valued at $372 million, up 10.7 percent from the previous year. The total U.S. trade deficit in goods with Sri Lanka was $2.3 billion in 2018, an 8.6 percent decrease from 2017. U.S. imports from Sri Lanka are mostly apparel, but also include rubber, industrial supplies, gemstones, tea, and spices. Top U.S. exports to Sri Lanka include animal feeds, medical equipment, soybeans, plastics, dairy products, wheat, cloth, and textiles.
Sri Lanka has also received approximately $1.2 billion in lending from the IMF since June 2016 with a new disbursement of $164.1 million agreed upon in May 2019.
U.S. Assistance to Sri Lanka
U.S.-Sri Lanka relations are based on shared democratic values and a rules-based regional and international order. Current U.S policy in Sri Lanka aims to support Sri Lanka’s democratic institutions, encourage its economic development, counter terrorism, and promote a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. Both governments intend to promote further economic cooperation and exchanges in maritime security and safety, and agree to pursue joint initiatives to enhance security, stability, transparency, and economic opportunity for mutual benefit.
Dotmount Communications has been one of the largest lobbying and communication firms in the world for years and has quickly become one of the largest in news content distributions in the world with access to over 8,000 media platforms, in 40+ languages since it expanded its operation after the election of former President Donald Trump.
In early 2019, the firm opened a public relations branch in Washington to provide media relations and public affairs counsel in addition to communication services.
It has expanded its footprint in recent years, most recently by acquiring 7.5% shares in Gannett Corporation, a firm with over 100 newspapers and 43 tv stations across the United States. It has also established itself as one of the foremost bipartisan firms operating in the nation’s capital by hiring on experienced Democratic operatives.
About the Founder:
Adedotun Babatunde Olaoluwa, Founder and President of Dotmount Communications Group leads a team in Washington that gives strategic advice to coalitions, companies, and governments about handling the media and issue campaigns. An award-winning communicator, Olaoluwa regularly contributes to AP, American City, Business Journal and was one of the 100 business owners under 40 invited to a one-day US Chamber of Commerce, US Congress, and White House symposium in 2015. He founded Dotmount Communications Group in 2011, Olaoluwa and his team have advised trade associations, multinational corporations, coalitions, and foreign governments. He has helped conduct proxy battles, run issue campaigns, design digital communications, manage coalitions, introduce new trade association CEOs and protect clients’ reputations during crises. On behalf of a wide range of clients, he has worked with international, national, and regional media outlets.