By Kevin McCauley
Levick Strategic Communications has inked a $240K contract to represent Antigua and Barbuda, which licenses electronic casinos, in its squabble over online gambling with the U.S. The U.S. maintains the federal Wire Act prohibits online gambling.
Under the six-month pact that went into effect Oct. 3, Levick fronts A&B’s position that it has lost billions of potential gambling revenue due to this country’s “failure” to abide by various rulings of the World Trade Organization. A&B has filed a claim with the WTO for $3.4 billion in trade sanctions against the U.S.
The Washington-based PR firm distributed a release Oct. 15 that says if America fully complies with various WTO rulings, money will flow to the Caribbean nation so it can invest in “invest in education, further job creation and job training that will benefit every Antiguan and Barbudan.”
Settle of the decade-long impasse with the U.S. over remote gaming services “will substantial positive impact on the country's ailing economy, adding diversity to the tourism industry which accounts for nearly 60 percent of gross domestic product and 40 percent of investment,” according to the A&B’s statement.
CEO Richard Levick and Colin Murdoch, A&B’s permanent secretary/minister of finance, the economy and public administration, signed the contract.
Michael Robinson, Levick executive VP and acting chair of the PA group, heads the firm’s effort for A&B. He’s assisted by Jack Deschauer, Philip Ellwood and Ryan Stanton.
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