- Barbados is set to make a groundbreaking step to declare a digital real estate sovereign land by establishing an Embassy in the Metaverse.
- The Barbadian government is making arrangements to finalize deals with other Metaverse platforms like Somnium Space and SuperWorld.
Barbados is set to make a groundbreaking step to declare a digital real estate sovereign land by establishing an Embassy in the Metaverse. Will Gottsegen of Coindesk defines Metaverse as a social space in virtual reality where people live their virtual life on the screen. It is said to be a copy of the real world where people do not have to abide by the laws of the physical. Having been convinced of the Metaverse concept, the Barbadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade has signed an agreement with one of the largest crypto-powered digital worlds, Decentraland to establish a digital embassy.
Not just that, the Barbadian government is making arrangements to finalize deals with other Metaverse platforms like Somnium Space and Super World. The Barbados Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates H.E Gabriel Abed explained that the country seeks to build something which is transferable across the other Metaverse.
The idea is not to pick a winner – the metaverse is still very young and new, and we want to make sure what we build is transferable across the metaworlds.
According to reports, the various projects will assist in the identification and the purchasing of lands, coming up with facilities to provide services like e-visas, constructing a “teleporter” to enable users to move their Avatar between the various worlds, and architecting the various embassies and consulates.
Barbados’ Metaverse embassy is seen as unique diplomatic opportunities
Abed also disclosed that the government under which the Metaverse embassy was approved believes that this initiative has a lot of unique diplomatic opportunities.
This is a way for Barbados to expand its diplomatic missions beyond the 18 it currently has with 190+ countries around the world. This allows us to open the door, using technology diplomacy, which then extends to cultural diplomacy – the trade of art, music, and culture.
Barbados has retained legal counsels as they plan to make the embassy compliant with international laws and that of the Vienna convention. Abed further explained the economic prospects of the embassy.
Embassies are the starting point to getting a visa to enter a country or visa-free travel. Can you imagine what that would look like virtually? And where that e-visa could lead you?
Once the embassy gets released, Barbados will become the first sovereign country to recognize digital sovereign land. Abed disclosed that the decision was not made rashly as the Ministry of Science and Technology and many other government bodies reviewed it over and over for months. In addition to the Metaverse move, the country is working to establish a physical embassy in the Middle East. It is highly expected that this move will influence other countries to also establish embassies in the Metaverse.
