NAYPYIDAW (AFP) - Myanmar wants a regular relationship with the United States, a senior official in the army-dominated country said Friday, days before a historic visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. We have no regular relations between the United States and Myanmar. In reality, we want to have a regular relationship, said Thura Shwe Mann, the speaker of the lower house of Myanmars parliament. Former general Thura Shwe Mann, who is considered one of the most powerful men in the current regime, said Myanmar welcomed Clintons visit, the first by a US secretary of state for 50 years. Her trip comes in the wake of signs of change in Myanmar, which languished under military rule for decades before an election last year brought a nominally-civilian government to power. The new administration has surprised many observers with a series of reformist moves, including holding talks with democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, passing a law giving workers the right to strike and releasing hundreds of political prisoners. The road is open for better relations between the two countries, Thura Shwe Mann told reporters in the capital Naypyidaw, in his first-ever news conference. I think this visit is not only good for the two governments but also for people in the two countries and the world. His comments came on the day that Suu Kyis party took its first formal step towards a return to mainstream politics after years of marginalisation.