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This year was likely to be another record year in terms of investment and injection from the igaming industry, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said this morning.
Addressing some 150 delegates at the sixth World Gambling Briefing 2010, being held in Malta for the first time, Mr Fenech said that when compared to other jurisdictions Malta fared very favourably because of its seriousness in its regulatory approach, its business friendly measures, the talent pool which the Maltese market attracted, its cost of labour and its disposition of embracing technology and financial attractiveness.
With around 350 remote gaming licences out of the 600 applications processed by the Lotteries and Gaming Authority in the past six years, Malta was proving that serious regulation and stringent supervision offered the ideal conditions for remote gaming companies to operate in.
The strong regulatory framework, coupled with Malta's expertise in the gaming industry put the country's jurisdiction on the forefront in this industry, the minister said.
He said that as part of its technology friendly outlook, Malta was looking into the sphere of digital gaming in all its shapes and forms.
Last October the government initiated the articulation of the national strategy for the development of the digital gaming industry and it was being anticipated that further global digital game developers would be investing in Malta in the next two to three years.
Mr Fenech said that notwithstanding the positive growth in Malta with 5,200 people directly employed in the industry, including 3,400 with the remote gaming industry, Malta was not ignoring the developments on the EU front.
Besides the work being done by the permanent representation in Brussels, the LGA, over the past year, established a fully dedicated EU affairs function to ensure that gaming was fair and transparent to the players as well as to prevent crime, corruption, money laundering and protect minor and vulnerable players.
