The Reuters Daily Briefing Tuesday, March 1, 2022 by Linda Noakes u Hello Here’s what you need to know. Human rights groups say Russia has used cluster and vacuum bombs Visa and Mastercard block Russian financial institutions The exodus of Western companies continues. Today’s biggest stories

U.S. President Joe Biden steps from Marine One upon his return to the White House, February 28, 2022 IN OTHER NEWS U.S. President Joe Biden, who has earned praise for his efforts to rally European allies and other nations against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, will turn to uniting Americans in the State of the Union speech today. Public opinion polls have shown Biden out of favor with the majority of Americans for months. A delegation of former senior U.S. defense and security officials sent by Biden arrived in Taipei on a visit denounced by China. The visit, led by one-time chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, comes at a time when Taiwan has stepped up its alert level, wary of China taking advantage of a distracted West to move against it. Hong Kong residents braced for a city-wide lockdown, emptying supermarkets and pharmacies, even as leader Carrie Lam called for calm and appealed for the public not to worry over a compulsory mass COVID-19 testing plan. Military helicopters airlifted stranded people from rooftops of flooded neighborhoods in eastern Australia and a tenth victim was found following days of torrential rain as the wild weather slowly shifts south toward Sydney. Iran said efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal could succeed if the United States took a political decision to meet Tehran’s remaining demands, as months of negotiations enter what one Iranian diplomat called a “now or never” stage. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei criticized the U.S. over the Ukraine crisis and described homosexuality as part of the “moral deprivation” widespread in Western civilization, during a televised speech. BREAKINGVIEWS Agenda-setting insight from the international commentary brand of Reuters Read Dasha Afanasieva on how a Russian economic collapse will be hard to avoid, Peter Thal Larsen on investors in Russia facing a mark-to-no-market problem, and Yawen Chen on how oil is lubricating Beijing’s Russian tightrope

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Quote of the day “No one can avert their gaze, abstention is not an option” Nicolas de Riviere French U.N. ambassador U.N. General Assembly set to isolate Russia

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Feb 28 (Reuters) – A Texas software developer and a cook in British Columbia are among dozens of Americans and Canadians answering Ukraine’s call for foreign volunteers to fight Russia’s invasion.

With their governments refusing to send troops to Ukraine out of fear of sparking a world war, Americans and Canadians told Reuters they were inspired by Ukrainians’ fierce resistance. Many believe their democratic rights will be threatened at home if they do nothing to defend Europe.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Sunday for the formation of an “international legion.” Some young volunteers are travelling straight to Ukraine to enlist.

Others are applying at Ukrainian embassies and consulates before quitting jobs or dropping out of university.

The mobilization was taking place as Russian artillery bombarded Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv on Monday, the fifth day of conflict. read more a

“I feel guilty to not go,” said Dax, 26, a veteran of the elite U.S. 82nd Airborne Division infantry, who planned to deploy with other former U.S. military personnel. Like many volunteers, the Alabama native declined to give his full name amid discussion on social media of the need to keep their identities and movements secret for security reasons.

Canadian Bryson Woolsey quit his job as a cook on Sunday after seeing Zelenskiy’s appeal. He has no military training and plans to buy a plane ticket to Poland, cross into Ukraine and volunteer for combat.

“I felt like I had to do something,” said Woolsey, 33, of Powell River, British Columbia, who became restless as he watched images of wounded women and children in Ukraine.

Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Sunday told reporters it was up to individual Canadians to decide whether they wanted to join Ukraine’s international brigade. The U.S. Department of State did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Not all volunteers want to fight.

In Quebec, 35-year-old physician Julien Auger was preparing to leave his young family to become a medic with Ukraine’s health ministry and provide “neutral” humanitarian aid.

“Global opinion and support is the key right now to solving the conflict,” said Auger, a father of two who provides palliative care at a hospital in Saint-Jérôme.

In online groups, military veterans warned volunteers with no combat training they were heading into a conflict where inexperience could be a liability for themselves and others.

That did not stop those like Tai B., 23, who studied journalism in New York.

“I’m not looking to be a hero, or a martyr, I just want to finally do something right,” said Tai, who can cook, do basic mechanics and knows how to handle a firearm. He has contacted Ukraine’s U.S. Embassy about enlisting in Zelenskiy’s “international legion.”

Hyde, a 28-year-old from the U.S. Midwest, said he was already in Kyiv and expected to start military training on Tuesday.

“I cannot bear the thought of Europe once again being plunged into warfare,” said Hyde, who described himself as a gun enthusiast and avid survivalist with no combat experience. He expects to be given a helmet, body armor, knee pads and eventually a rifle.

In Austin, Texas, a software developer said he would draw on his experience as a U.S. Army cadet to fight for Ukraine.

“If they’re willing to defend democracy then I think those that benefit from a democratic society are duty bound to support them,” said the 25-year-old, who asked that his name not be used. “I’m not telling my parents until I head to the airport.”

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Canada has already sent weapons and non-lethal support to Ukraine, and has backed a number of sanctions, including supporting the removal of Russia from the SWIFT system for international bank payments.

“We are providing even more lethal aid to Ukraine, and we’ll be sending 100 Carl Gustaf anti-tank weapon systems and 2,000 rockets, which we will be working to deliver as quickly as possible,” Defence Minister Anita Anand said.

Canada imported C$289 million ($228 million) worth of Russian energy products in 2021, according to Statistics Canada.

Canada is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, but the vast majority comes from Alberta, far from eastern Canadian refineries owned by Irving Oil, Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Valero Energy Corp (VLO.N) and Cresta Fund Management.

Eastern refiners import oil on the spot market when needed, as well as fuels to meet demand during maintenance shutdowns, said David Schick, a vice-president with the Canadian Fuels Association.

The Russian oil ban applies only to crude oil for now, but the government is looking at oil derivative products next, a government source said.

In 2021, shipments included naphtha and diesel to Valero’s Quebec refinery and deliveries of diesel and gasoline to a refinery in Newfoundland & Labrador, now owned by Cresta Fund Management, said Jim Mitchell, head of Americas Oil Analysts at Refinitiv.

Cresta is repurposing the idled Newfoundland refinery to produce renewable fuel.

Irving does not import Russian oil, a spokeswoman said. A Suncor spokeswoman said the company does not process Russian crude in any of its refineries. Valero and Cresta did not immediately respond.

Canada also played a role in restricting Russia’s central bank from being able to access its foreign reserves.

Trudeau said his government has asked the independent Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications regulator to drop Russian state-owned broadcaster RT, saying that “it is important that Canadians and people around the world be faced with accurate information.” Canadian cable operators said on Sunday they would voluntarily drop RT.

Earlier on Monday, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the G7 group of nations would bring more sanctions against Russia.

($1 = 1.2673 Canadian dollars)

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One of the five men was rescued from inside the pipeline four hours after the incident, and the company said they were searching for the body of the missing worker.

The government announced that an independent investigation has been launched to determine what the cause of the accident, and it will include experts from multinational energy companies.

“I want to give the assurance to the families that nothing will stand in the way of determining how this tragedy occurred,” Prime Minister Keith Rowley said in a separate statement.

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MUMBAI, March 1 (Reuters) – Palm oil has become the costliest among the four major edible oils for the first time as buyers rush to secure replacements for sunflower oil shipments from the top exporting Black Sea region that were disrupted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Palm oil’s record premium over rival oils could squeeze price-sensitive Asian and African consumers already reeling from spiralling fuel and food costs, and force them to curtail consumption and shift to rival soyoil , dealers said.

Crude palm oil (CPO) is being offered at about $1,925 a tonne, including cost, insurance and freight (CIF), in India for March shipments, compared with $1,865 for crude soybean oil.

Crude rapeseed oil was offered at around $1,900, while traders were not offering crude sunflower oil as ports are closed due to the Ukraine crisis.

The Black Sea accounts for 60% of world sunflower oil output and 76% of exports. Ports in Ukraine will remain closed until the invasion ends. read more

“Asian and European refiners have raised palm oil purchases for near-month shipments to replace sunoil. This buying has lifted palm oil to irrational price level,” said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm.

“They have the option of buying soyoil as well. But prompt soyoil shipments are limited and they take much longer to land in Asia compared to palm oil,” he said.

Soybean production in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay is expected to fall because of dry weather.

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The State Department under Trump sharply scaled back embassy staff in 2017 following a spate of “anomalous health incidents” that came to be known as “Havana syndrome.” The unexplained illnesses first affected U.S. employees in the Cuban capital and later cropped up in other parts of the world.

There have been no recent reports of incidents in Havana.

The drawdown all but halted visa processing for Cubans who in many cases seek to emigrate or travel to the United States to reunite with families. It coincided with Trump’s rollback of a historic rapprochement that his predecessor, Barack Obama, oversaw between the United States and Cuba, Washington’s old Cold War foe.

The two people familiar with the matter declined to be identified because they were not authorized to disclose details. One said the plan was expected to be announced as early as Thursday by senior U.S. diplomats in Havana.

A State Department spokesperson said the administration was committed “to exploring options to ensure appropriate staffing at U.S. Embassy Havana” while maintaining security. “These options could include sending both temporary and longer-term personnel,” the official added, declining to elaborate.

The Cuban government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was not immediately known how many staffers would be added and how soon they would arrive, but the sources said they would focus on a huge backlog of visa requests. There were more than 90,000 Cubans on the “immigration waiting list” as of November, according to the State Department’s latest figures.

In the Trump era, the processing of Cubans’ visas had been transferred to the U.S. embassy in Guyana, where few Cubans could afford to travel.

Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Brian Nichols told lawmakers during a Feb. 3 hearing that the administration would send “temporary duty consular officers to Havana in the not-too-distant future” but he did not offer any details.

REMITTANCES

Even with this week’s expected embassy announcement, the Biden administration is not likely to provide any further clarity for now on any plans for easing the flow of remittances to Cuba that were severely restricted under Trump. Money sent by Cuban Americans to families on the island had served as a financial lifeline for them.

“That decision is still on hold,” one of the sources said.

Nichols testified last month that recommendations on remittances were in the White House’s hands and “we await their decision.”

Biden, who served as Obama’s vice president, had promised during the 2020 election campaign against Trump to re-engage with Cuba’s government.

But the Biden administration slapped sanctions on Cuban officials and security force in response to Havana’s crackdown on protesters in July, and has since imposed further measures over Cuba’s prosecution of hundreds of jailed protesters.

Biden officials are mindful that any easing of restrictions on Cuba could lead to political fallout from conservative Cuban Americans. The latter make up a large voting bloc in south Florida and mostly backed Trump’s tough policies toward Cuba, helping him to win the important swing state last year.

But the resumption of visa processing at the embassy is less likely to spur a serious political backlash since a number of Cuban American lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, have backed the idea.

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By Chelcee Brathwaite and Nikolai Layne

A decline in tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic reminded the Caribbean of their need for economic diversification. An area for consideration is the “orange” economy which, given the region’s rich cultural assets, presents endless opportunities. However, comparative advantage alone is not sufficient to fully capitalise on the sector’s emerging trends. In this SRC Trading Thoughts we explore how Web 3.0 can be leveraged in the orange economy.

An Economic Engine with Strong Susceptibility to Disruptive Innovation

The orange economy includes several linked activities which transform cultural, artistic and heritage-based ideas into creative goods and services whose value is determined by intellectual property rights (IPRs).

Pre-crisis forecasts indicate that the creative economy could account for 10% of global GDP before 2030. Previous estimates indicated that the orange economy generated 30 million jobs worldwide (employing a greater share of youth, women and minority groups in developing countries than in advanced economies) and contributed 3% of global GDP in 2013, with even bigger contributions in some Caribbean states (8% of St. Lucia’s GDP in 2012 and 5% of Jamaica’s GDP in 2007). UNCTAD found that the creative economy’s export trade growth averaged 7% between 2002 and 2015, demonstrating faster and more resilient growth than other industries even during the 2008 global financial crisis. The orange economy presents a unique opportunity for the Caribbean to leverage its dynamic cultural elements as a comparative advantage to achieve stronger economic growth and diversification, while contributing to several SDGs.

Creative disruption is prevalent in the orange economy, with digitization already significantly reducing costs for creating, accessing, and distributing creative works, and replacing physical products that embody these works with digital products. Dr. Keith Nurse attributes the growth of the digital creative sector to rapid techno-economic change, increasing commercialization of IP in the digital world, growth of social networking and synergies among value enhancing activities.

Leveraging Web 3.0 to Overcome Barriers in the Orange Economy

Web 3.0 is generally accepted as a new iteration of the world wide web that is based on the blockchain. Blockchains are supported by multiple layers of technological innovation which are critical to its decentralisation. Each layer underpinning Web 3.0 plays a critical role in processing data and distributing value in a frictionless way. Although the potential of such disruptive technologies cannot be fully conceived, what is evident is that leveraging areas such as artificial intelligence, big data, distributed ledger technology and digital identity can create an inclusive and connected environment where people, businesses and countries can participate and share resources.

Let’s briefly explore Web 3.0’s predecessors. Web 1.0 surfaced as the first stage of the internet in 1989 but was very limited in its capabilities with content shared in a read-only form and static pages hosted on ISP-run web servers. Web 2.0 (early 2000s) upgraded the read-only format to encompass both a read and write environment allowing users to interact with content. However, this environment became highly censored and centralised with permission requirements. Participation on multiple platforms meant that users were required to share personal information and data which could be exchanged or sold to other parties. Web 3.0 purports to remedy these issues by building an inclusive, secure, decentralised, permissionless, censorship-resistant and interoperable digital environment.

We cannot fully explore Web 3.0 here, but we highlight three developments beneficial for growing the Caribbean’s orange economy.

Smart Contracts

IPRs protect and promote creativity by allowing creators to earn recognition and financial benefit for their works. UNCTAD’s Deputy Secretary General, Isabelle Durant, found some developing countries lacked legal and regulatory frameworks and/or implementation capacity for systematic enforcement, collection and distribution of royalties. Another challenge is the applicability of traditional IP regimes in the digital realm.

Blockchain technology is a practical solution that can fill in the gaps that exist in traditional IP regimes with the use of smart contracts. Smarts contracts are self-executing contracts on the Blockchain network where the terms of agreement are structured by code and can be used for effective management or maintenance of patents, copyrights and trademarks. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are powered by smart contracts and are best understood as unique cryptographic digital tokens that are linked to creative goods like art, music and collectables. There are two practical considerations for NFTs in relation to intellectual property rights. The purchase of an NFT is the right to claim ownership for the NFT only. However, the author or creator of these digital assets owns the actual copyright to their work unless they decide to transfer ownership of the copyright to another party.

Examples of NFTs currently exist in the developing world and Barbados has a good illustration of how these assets can be distributed. Music artist, Shontelle Layne launched a project in 2021 using NFTs to directly connect with her fans. Her vision involved releasing music in the form of collectables via an online auction with the highest bidder receiving an NFT and special rights to her content. The owner of this unique NFT can redeem it for several exclusive items, including a cameo in the video for Shontelle’s song, “House Party” and his/her name included in the lyrics of another version to the song.

Asset Tokenization

The S4YE Coalition identified access to finance as a major impediment for entrepreneurs and MSMEs in the orange economy. The lack of tangible assets and weak IP frameworks to verify economic value of intangible assets, high uncertainty of market demand and a longer period for value generation, removes most traditional financing schemes from the reach of these entrepreneurs.

Asset tokenization is the process of fractionalizing ownership of physical assets through digital tokens. Security token offerings (STOs) are a means of asset tokenization combining blockchain technology with the regulatory approval of asset transferability in the securities market. This process provides support for the liquidity of assets whilst creating wider availability for finance. The tokenization of Orange Development Areas (ODAs) as geographical spaces which support economic and creative activities can attract domestic and international investment. ODAs are a perfect medium to assist entrepreneurs and MSMEs that seek to occupy spaces for the development and promotion of their goods and services. The inclusion of a governance protocol for the purpose of providing token holders with voting rights and setting parameters around various creative activities will add tremendous value. Additionally, tax benefits can be explored by the government to continuously attract investors. Ernst & Young cites some of the advantages of STO-based financing compared to traditional fundraising methods as the global reach to a digital distribution of tokens and quick realisation.

Metaverse

According to UNCTADStat, CARICOM recorded US$54million in exports of creative goods in 2015, accounting for 0.011% of global creative goods exports; the value of creative services exports are unknown. Greater efforts are needed to bolster the sector’s productive capacity, enhance their access to global markets and capture relevant data. Research found that creative MSMEs often lack resources and networks for marketing and building a brand in non-domestic markets where they face high entry barriers.

The metaverse represents a persistent virtual or augmented space which can be supported by blockchain technology and used to create a fair market environment. Although still in its infancy, the metaverse is open to any party interested in connecting or interacting in an inclusive environment for entertainment or enterprise purposes. A virtual world eliminates geographic constraints and reduces expenditures which exist in traditional channels for small islands to have an international presence. CARICOM member states can leverage the metaverse to establish a trade presence globally and display cultural and creative goods that are linked to real world assets. Privileges can be determined at a national level in relation to the real-world utility of these virtual assets outside of the metaverse. Barbados became the first sovereign nation to announce the development of an embassy in the Metaverse through an agreement with Decentraland. The aim of this strategic arrangement is to approach global diplomacy in a cost-effective way whilst building an efficient infrastructure to promote the island’s unique cultural aspects. In this form creative goods and services can be offered around the world without the traditional limitations of doing international business.

Concluding Thoughts

Emerging technologies offer solutions to several challenges even in areas beyond the orange economy. However, careful mitigation of risks and the development of an enabling environment will be key to unlocking the potential of Web 3.0 for the Caribbean and other developing regions. In our next piece, we address some of these risks and frameworks.

Mrs. Chelcee Brathwaite is a Trade Researcher at the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services, of the University of the West Indies’ Cave Hill Campus (Barbados) and Mr. Nikolai Layne is a Financial Strategist at Laissez Faire Associates.

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