£20 million from Glasgow University to UWI

UWI Science, technology, engineering, agriculture and medicine- STEAM- should benefit from £20 million from Glasgow University from British taxpayers.

The agreement was signed at the of The UWI Headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica on July 31, 2019 by Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles and Dr David Duncan, University of Glasgow’s Chief Operating Officer, representing Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli.

Under the terms of the agreement the University of Glasgow will provide £20 million to fund research to promote development initiatives jointly undertaken with The UWI over the next two decades. £20 million was paid to plantation owners by the British government at emancipation in 1834.

The funds will facilitate the operations of a jointly-owned and managed institution, the Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research. The Centre will target and promote solutions to Caribbean development problems in medicine and public health, economics and economic growth, culture and other orientations in Caribbean transformation.

The £20 million will be invested in policy research in science, technology, society and economy, and education and advocacy that seek to promote Caribbean development. The Centre which will focus on joint efforts to foster social and economic growth will be formally established on both campuses in September 2019. The seminal agreement, the first in which a European institution committed funds to facilitate regional development for reparations, follows negotiations which began when the 600-year-old University of Glasgow reported in 2018 that it received funds from British planters.

Professor Beckles, who brokered the historic agreement, complimented Dr Duncan for his astute leadership of the Glasgow Reparatory Justice Task Force and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli for his visionary leadership of the University which this agreement places on a high moral ground. The internaitonal community hopes development will be inclusive in this cosmopolitan region, rescued after emancipation by indentured Indo-Caucasians, subjected to unlawful racial discrimination since arrival in 1838.

The CARICOM economy depends on aid from the EU and USA for 15 member states, independent former European colonies, 5 British territories and 8 observers.

Status	Name	Join date	Notes
Full members	Antigua and Barbuda	4 July 1974
	Bahamas	4 July 1983	Not part of customs union
	Barbados	1 August 1973	One of the four founding members
	Belize	1 May 1974
	Dominica	1 May 1974
	Grenada	1 May 1974
	Guyana	1 August 1973	One of the four founding members
	Haiti	2 July 2002	Provisional membership on 4 July 1998
	Jamaica	1 August 1973	One of the four founding members
	Montserrat	1 May 1974	British overseas territory
	Saint Kitts and Nevis	26 July 1974	Joined as Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla
	Saint Lucia	1 May 1974
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1 May 1974
	Suriname	4 July 1995
	Trinidad and Tobago	1 August 1973	One of the four founding members
Associate Members	Anguilla	July 1999	British overseas territory
	Bermuda	2 July 2003	British overseas territory
	British Virgin Islands	July 1991	British overseas territory
	Cayman Islands	16 May 2002	British overseas territory
	Turks and Caicos Islands	July 1991	British overseas territory
Observers	Aruba		Constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
	Colombia
	Curaçao		Constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
	Dominican Republic
	Mexico
	Puerto Rico		Unincorporated territory of the United States
	Sint Maarten		Constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
	Venezuela

The Bahamas

Bahamas Petroleum progress towards exploration drilling

Bahamas Petroleum Company, the oil and gas exploration company with significant prospective resources in licences in The Bahamas, has entered into a series of agreements as part of a coordinated approach toward drilling its first exploration well in The Bahamas in 2020.

Highlights

• On course to see drilling of an initial exploration well in 1H 2020
• Agreement with Seadrill for the provision of a sixth generation drilling rig, key commercial parameters agreed including day rate
• Appointed leading international contractor, Halliburton, as integrated well services provider, BakerHughes GE appointed to provide a range of well-related equipment
• Revised estimate of initial exploration well cost down to between US$25 – US$30 million (or <US$50 million for a concurrent two-well campaign if funding permits)
• Conditional agreement for a convertible loan investment of £10.25 million, approximately half the anticipated cost of a single well
• Proposals received for other financing alternatives, farm-out discussions continue
• AGM called for 17 September 2019, to approve, inter alia,
  1. the convertible note investment,
  2. a proposed expanded share issuance authority,
  3. a proposed cancellation of existing options to be replaced with issue of revised new options, and
  4. approval of payment of deferred remuneration via the issue of new ordinary shares once the initial well is fully funded

Simon Potter, Chief Executive Officer of Bahamas Petroleum Company, said:‘Following our licences being extended to the end of 2020 by the Government of The Bahamas earlier this year, rapid progress has been made across our business. Today we are pleased to update shareholders on a series of coordinated steps that the Company has taken toward drilling of an initial exploration well during 2020, consistent with our licence obligations. This includes a framework agreement for a rig, appointments for essential well services with leading global oil services companies, as well as considerable progress on financial arrangements to fund the drilling, whether that be via a farm-in on acceptable terms, or by other means, whichever is in the best interests of the Company. I look forward to updating all stakeholders as we make further progress.’

Source: Bahamas Petroleum

DE FACTO US UNINCORPOARATED TERRITORY?

One of the icons of The Bahamas is Junkanoo, musical mix of carnival, masquerade dance and parade. Days before Dorian, Grand Bahama splashed on music, demonstrations, crafts, a kids’ corner, live performances and an action-packed closing performance.

When Hurricane Dorian hit 2 of 24 inhabited islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of 700 islands and 2000 cays, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, CARICOM and UN rallied to deliver generous material and financial aid to The Bahamas, the third wealthiest country in the Americas after USA and Canada and the richest in the West Indies with the highest per capita GDP of USD 30,000.

Hurricane technology is accessible to the prosperous flag state, a tax haven with the most offshore companies in close proximity to the US. A very competitive tax regime derives revenue from import tariffs, VAT,  business license fees, international trade taxes, property and stamp taxes instead of income tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax and wealth tax. The economy flourishes on tourism and offshore international financial services, banking, oil bunkering, maritime industries, transshipment and logistics, salt, aragonite and pharmaceuticals.

An emergency declaration gave tax exemptions to medicine, building supplies and other goods for relief efforts.

Britain’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary stationed an aid ship, the Mounts Bay. A $5.4m (£4.3m) budget is allocated to the UN agency, World Food Programme, for a three-month emergency operation. In addition to efforts by US Coast Guard, rescue planes and helicopters, the US announced $4m (£3.2m) in new humanitarian assistance.

The US Agency for International Development said the money would fund shelter, food, medicine and water. Royal Caribbean Cruise Line offered free passage to Florida for those with permission to enter the US . Red Cross and American Airlines and the private sector are among donors.

Growth in 2018 was backed by buoyant tourism and construction. Real GDP grew by 2.3 percent in 2018. Growth is projected to 2.1 percent in 2019 . The medium-term outlook is positive. To safeguard public investment, the government should cut expenditure and debt.

Global tax trends and the accession to the WTO present an opportunity to review the tax regime to achieve a more equitable tax system and strengthen transparency. The government secured a contingent credit line with the Inter-American Development Bank and re-subscribed to disaster insurance through the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF).

A Natural Disaster Fund will complement financial tools to effectively respond to disasters, investing in physically resilient infrastructure, including through building code enforcement and coastal management. The banking sector enjoys healthy profits and maintains high capital and liquidity ratios. Recapitalizations of the Bank of The Bahamas highlight the need to complete reform and enhance governance of public asset management companies.

Governance for state-controlled financial institutions should be strengthened. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) continues to identify The Bahamas as a country with strategic AML/CFT deficiencies. Excess liquidity calls for strengthening of the monetary policy transmission mechanism.      The Bahamas is awash with cash.

With a stagnant economy, 40,000 jobless , 300,000 homeless, lack of foreign exchange, high taxation, escalating crime with murders approaching 400, the prime min­is­ter of Trinidad & Tobago an­nounced extensive hurricane aid with an enormous donation of US$500,000, after local councils were denied funds. 7 elec­tric­i­ty tech­ni­cians from Trinidad and To­ba­go Elec­tric­i­ty Com­mis­sion will assist restora­tion of pow­er. That num­ber may in­crease.   Soldiers playing the steelband in Scotland while Trinidad was flooded are among 100 mem­bers of the Trinidad and Tobago De­fence Force in the Ba­hamas to maintain law and or­der. .

Equinor

At the time of arrival of the hurricane, Equinor had 54 personnel at Grand Bahama. They worked at the South Riding Point oil storage terminal up until the precautionary shutdown. Personnel in the Bahamas are now safe. The Bahamas organisation has been supported by emergency response organisations in the United States and Norway since the situation began. Initial aerial assessment of the South Riding Point facility found that the terminal sustained damage. Oil on the ground outside of the onshore tanks did not spill to the sea.

Equinor mobilised oil spill response resources. Equinor shut down operations of the terminal on 31 August, following advice from authorities to evacuate. The South Riding Point storage and reloading terminal has a capacity of 6.75 million barrels. Equinor began cleaning up an onshore oil spill at its terminal and a spill response team started to recover oil from the ground and move it into tank storage.  At the time the hurricane hit, 1.8 million barrels of oil equivalent were being stored.

UK,  CDB,  CC

UK Department for International Trade (DIT) hosted an event in Bristol with the Caribbean Development Bank and the Caribbean Council, showcasing the growing number of opportunities for UK companies in Caribbean markets.

Analysis of HMRC data shows that the UK exported £1.2 billion to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in the four quarters to the end of Q1 2019 – an increase of 76.1% from the four quarters to the end of Q1 2018, with the export of services alone (£1 billion) accounting for 83.6% of this total.

Swindon-based David Jarvis Associates attended the event and tapped into demand for British goods and services in CARICOM, having secured an opportunity to support the production of the National Spatial Plan for the Jamaican Government. The company’s team of consultants, consisting of chartered town planners, urban designers and landscape architects, will produce technical reports after extensive assessment of the island. The reports will guide the Government on where to locate housing, industry, infrastructure and tourism in a climate resilient and sustainable way.

Chairman, David Jarvis said: “Attending DIT events is invaluable as you get to meet in-country representatives from a selection of countries. .. at the Bristol event .. two speakers from the Caribbean Development Bank.. mentioned some projects that their board had only approved in the few days prior, so we got to hear about the opportunity first. Doing business in the Caribbean and places like the Middle East is made much easier because the contract language is English – it is much simpler .. to talk ..about our services without worrying about a language barrier. Securing this opportunity with the Jamaican Government has been really rewarding and I would encourage other businesses to consider exporting because if we can find international success, so can you.”

Since 1982, David Jarvis Associates has worked extensively with governments, public authorities and the private sector all over the world on contracts involving post-mineral extraction, strategic environmental impact assessments and design projects. With an annual turnover of £2 million and a host of multi-national clients who work across over 70 countries, the company works where there is a demand for its services. It is also working on in the United Arab Emirates and a Trinidad brief is in the pipeline.

HMTC for Latin America and the Caribbean Joanna Crellin said:   “The Caribbean is an excellent entry point for SME exporters, offering opportunities covering a wide range of sectors from food and drink, healthcare, to security and defence. There are significant opportunities in infrastructure and energy as the Caribbean region is rapidly emerging as an offshore oil and gas hub with countries like Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica presenting a myriad of possibilities for UK energy suppliers. On islands less focussed on oil and gas, there are opportunities for UK businesses to engage on renewable projects in solar, wind and geothermal.”

Earlier, DIT signed the CARIFORUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement to ensure that companies can continue trading with the Caribbean on the same terms as today after Britain leaves the EU.

Venezuelans in Trinidad

Pope com­plained that he has not been able to speak with his clients and did not know what was hap­pen­ing with them.

The men were aboard two ves­sels Fri­aly and El Cu­fi sail­ing to Trinidad to sell over 4,000 kilo­grammes of cop­per when they were in­ter­cept­ed by Coast Guard be­fore they docked at the Ce­dros Port. The ves­sels were be­ing con­veyed by the Coast Guard to Staubles Bay when they sank 15 nau­ti­cal miles west of Point Lisas.    Ques­tions were raised as to why the ves­sels were de­tained since the Coast Guard, Cus­toms and Ex­cise and Im­mi­gra­tion De­part­ment re­ceived the re­quired no­tice of their ar­rival and the rel­e­vant doc­u­ments.

The Coast Guard, said the ves­sels were in­ter­cept­ed be­cause the ex­por­t of cop­per from Venezuela is il­le­gal. “The ves­sels were in pos­ses­sion of cop­per, with in­tent to trade. The Bo­li­var­i­an Re­pub­lic of Venezuela has in­di­cat­ed that the ex­por­ta­tion of cop­per from Venezuela is il­le­gal and there­fore Venezue­lan ves­sels with this item on­board will be in­ves­ti­gat­ed ac­cord­ing­ly.” . The ves­sels were di­rect­ed to Staubles Bay to “safe­ly and ef­fec­tive­ly con­duct pro­cess­ing and as­sess­ment of ves­sel, doc­u­men­ta­tion and per­son­nel.” It did not pro­vide de­tails about how the boats sank. The men would have been hand­ed over to Im­mi­gra­tion of­fi­cials.

Trinidad & Tobago Benefits From Bolivarian Bust

Venezuelans have long lived in Trinidad & Tobago. Their citiziens travelled for work and education. across the 15 km waterway, Family ties existed since Spanish rule and both economies thrived on petroleum and agriculture. Of 4m people fleeing the Venezuelan nightmare, over 60,000 entered T&T, 3 percent of the population, the highest rate in the region. In Colombia, 1.3m migrants now form over 2.65 percent and cost Colombia 0.4 percent of its GDP.

The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago said the economy could be similarly affected, estimating an economic cost of around $620m a year. Economic and social consequences include the impact on labour and housing markets, public sector programmes of national insurance and health care, competition and crime including weapons, drugs and vice.

Colombia received a World Bank grant of $31.5m in April to cover costs of housing new arrivals, T&T has yet to receive external financial aid. As the recession deepens, the central bank proposed tapping into a $100m grant from the Inter-American Development Bank, designed to assist neighbouring countries hosting Venezuelan migrants

Legal uncertainty prevails. [ SEE BBC news item “displaced” (link to Youtube) ]  Questions remain over the legal status of Venezuelans, in the absence of an official asylum policy. T&T requires Venezuelans to hold a valid passport and visa and offered a brief amnesty to Venezuelans already in the country. 16,500 people registered with the authorities during the two-week period, from May 31 to June 14. They received work permits for either six months or one year, along with basic medical care and a photo ID.

Despite this attempt to document migrants, there is uncertainty associated with the lack of asylum legislation, not least for those who arrived after the two-week window.

Potential productivity and macroeconomic benefits may be positive. Politicians and the public are anxious over the recent wave of migrants but business highlights positive outcomes. “Venezuelans see T&T as their next opportunity and,.. ,arrive with highly ambitious mindsets. This could have a noticeably positive impact on the economy overall,” said Sudesh Botha, director of local geospatial and engineering design company Giscad.

The population rise may have beneficial effects in the food and beverage industry, the country’s largest manufacturing subsector. “An increasing demographic trend – as long as it is not at too fast a rate – is a good thing. An increase of 4 percent in the formal labour market creates a net contribution to society and has the knock-on effect of more consumers looking to buy packaged goods,” said Dominic Hadeed of Blue Waters

Mitchell de Silva, of Citibank, said the influx would lead to a “net benefit”. “Not only will migrant workers assist in filling the gaps in traditional low-skilled sectors – by taking on jobs in the construction sector, for example – but the retail sector will also receive a boost. If handled correctly, this could help kick-start the economy.”

Building Latin American connections is vital and migrants could strengthen trade relations with the rest of Latin America. Venezuela and T&T collaborate on oil and gas projects. With limited trade links with South America, an increase in the number of Spanish-speakers could create greater engagement with the continent.

“There are a number of companies looking to enter Spanish-speaking markets. Some look favourably on the migration issue and therefore welcome the arrival of native Spanish speakers,” said Dirk Prudent, commercial manager of Giscad. “T&T could position itself as a launch pad for other markets in the region, which would provide more scope for trade. Many companies are hiring hard-working Venezuelans to help them bring forward their expansion plans in the continent.” (OBG)

EVENT

GUYANA MARRIOTT HOTEL                             20-22 NOVEMBER 2019

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