Premier Alex Scott will lead a Government contingent to Washington later this month in a bid to step up diplomatic relations with the US.

The move, which was revealed in a Finance Ministry communication with the Island?s business organisations, follows Government setting aside extra funds in this year?s budget for ?economic diplomacy?.

The trip is aimed at ?ensuring that USA-Bermuda relations are at their strongest? and ?to promote Bermuda as a quality jurisdiction?.

It is to be made immediately after the Premier visits leading insurance event the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. (RIMS) annual conference in San Diego from April 18 to 21.

Government?s visit to the US also follows tense relations with departing US Consul General Denis Coleman earlier this year, who rapped the Island for exploring air links with Cuba, after it said relations would be strictly ?cultural?.

Mr. Coleman (pictured) said at the time that Bermuda was effectively ?fostering economic relationships with Cuba? and ?sticking a finger in the eye? of the US, whose policy is to isolate the Fidel Castro regime.

Bermuda has also come under fire from leading Democratic Party members over so-called ?offshoring?, in which US companies moved their places of incorporation to Bermuda while retaining their operating headquarters in the US.

Mr. Scott will reportedly be joined on Capitol Hill by Finance Minister Paula Cox, Finance Ministry officials and a Bermuda Monetary Authority representative. Bermuda?s Washington-based lobbyist will also be present for meetings.

The move comes after Government, in its Budget statement in February, said it had set aside extra funds for ?economic diplomacy?.

At the time, Ms Cox said: ?There is also the vital need to sustain our efforts at economic diplomacy. Bermuda?s economic interests continue to be challenged on a number of international fronts.?

Although Government did not say specifically who they would meet with during their trip later this month, it said there would be no meetings held with ?USA politicians who are currently running for office?.

Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic front runner for the Oval Office, has vowed in almost every speech given along the campaign trail to shut down the so-called ?Bermuda tax loophole? enabling companies to invert their place of incorporation offshore to trim their US tax bills. Instead of taking on Sen. Kerry, Government said the trip was a meet-and-greet opportunity where officials could talk with US legislators and ?key players? about ?Bermuda?s economic structure and fiscal regimes? and that ?nothing earth shattering? was on the agenda.

Last month, in a media briefing, Bermuda Government officials said fears that Sen. Kerry?s Bermuda-bashing could wreak havoc on the Island?s reputation had been blown out of proportion. Government advisors said Sen. Kerry had, during his 19-year career in the Senate, proven that he was unlikely to espouse the ?protectionist? policies that he has called for in his run for the presidency.

However, Ms Cox said Government was not taking a sit-back attitude to the political rhetoric that portrayed Bermuda negatively but its plan was to have quiet ?back door corridor? meetings with key decision makers in the US capital.

She added that it was Government?s view that a high-profile lobby effort could be self-defeating and the more ?prudent? approach was to keep the specifics of its diplomatic actions out of the public eye.

She added that Government recognised the importance of building relationships with key decision makers on Capitol Hill.

?We all shudder when we see our name bandied about in an erroneous fashion,? she said, promising that Government was carefully building relationships with Congress members and taking part in key briefings in the US.