Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) is to pay for the government’s public relations campaign abroad.

MMPRC, which is tasked with advertising the Maldives tourism industry, has agreed to pay US lobby firm Ballard Partners for a one-year $600K program to build support from US policymakers.

A copy of the contract has been published online by the US justice department. It was signed by MMPRC’s acting managing director Haaris Mohamed.

O’Dwyer’s, a public relations and marketing news outlet also reported on the agreement on Friday.

The Yameen administration hires foreign PR and lobby firms each time the political turmoil escalates in Maldives.

The administration has been increasingly under pressure from the international community for declaring the State of Emergency and arresting judges and opposition leaders.