Maltese and Malta-based igaming stakeholders and operators have described their participation in London’s ICE Totally Gaming as “fruitful” on their return from the largest and most important trade event of the year. Many have even booked their booth space for next year’s event which promises to be even grander.

We have already booked our stand for next year

Up to 1,000 people representing some 50 companies are believe to have travelled to London from Malta to participate in the event at the ExCel in the east of the capital between February 5 and 7 and have now set about following up on leads. ICE hosted more than 40,000 visitors this year.

Malta’s regulator was one of a record 52 to attend this year. The Lotteries and Gaming Authority held more than 100 meetings at its booth during its 10th participation in the event – meetings were held with existing licensees, applicants and prospective applicants, and service providers. Chief executive Reuben Portanier said some meetings were pre-arranged.

“The scheduled meetings in general were meetings involving operators in their final stages of their plans for Malta; the non-scheduled meetings were predominately active queries on certain specific issues for them to determine where to establish their business operations,” Mr Portanier told The Times Business. “We were very positively surprised that whoever approached us had a very good understanding of our regulatory requirements and their queries were very specific on particular issues. This also demonstrates the position of repute that Malta and the LGA enjoy.”

Discussions also related to what is required to be regulated by the LGA, others to queries on relocation requirements and some to licencees’ chief executives formally communicating their expansion plans into Malta.

For the first time, ICE Totally Gaming – this year themed Think Big – was held at the ExCel after moving from its previous venue at Earl’s Court in the West End. Mr Portanier believes the move generated even further interest in the event.

“For the past decade, the LGA has always had an important presence at ICE. This year, the regulator was both a keynote speaker at the various conferences and our information stand was highly visited, confirming the vibrant interest in our jurisdiction,” Mr Portanier continued.

Numerous queries also focused on the upcoming regulatory framework covering digital games with prizes. Mr Portanier explained that this is another area the LGA identified which needs to be regulated to afford protection to minors and young adults. This is an upcoming niche that could follow a similar path as remote gaming in terms of growth and importance. Digital games fall under a different category of gaming which is not normally associated with gambling, he said, but promoters of digital games with prize were aware of the LGA’s presence in London and specifically attended to meet LGA officials.

ICE is a unique meeting platform – it establishes the start of a serious of discussions and queries which take place over the following 12 months. It can also wrap up licence processing.

“Our job as a regulator does not start and stop at ICE,” Mr Portanier added. ”Should the operators opt for Malta, our role then turns into that of processing such applications to ascertain that it can be granted a licence. From a supervisory and monitoring perspective, the LGA has a round-the-clock operation running 365 days. Not everyone who shows an interest during ICE actually manages to qualify for a licence.

“Our regulatory standards impose that we thoroughly go through numerous aspects connected with each application, such as conducting fit and properness checks to the ultimate beneficiary owners, reviewing in detail their business and financial plans, assessing the applicant’s proposed technical infrastructure and system architecture, approving their employees, auditing their games and random number generators. The list goes on. There is quite a lot of work that needs to be done after ICE.”

Malta Enterprise officials were also present and “had a number of fruitful meetings and established leads with potential investors involved in activities such as software development, games development, testing and other activities which support the igaming industry”, according to a Malta Enterprise spokesman.

While Malta Enterprise does not give direct aid to the igaming industry, the organisation facilitates further growth of this cluster in Malta, consequently spurring the creation of more employment opportunities by assisting companies involved in eligible supporting activities to set up and service the industry.

Other participants from Malta were upbeat on their return from ICE.

“Considering the change of venue to ExCel from Earls Court which was much more centrally located, we were initially a little sceptical but our impression changed once the show started,” Remax Malta regional director Jeff Buttigieg said.

“We felt that there was a very good flow of customers at ICE and those who stopped at our stand were of good quality. We found that there are still a number of start-ups, small, medium and even larger companies thinking about Malta as a base. We have already booked our stand for next year. I would sum it up as a very fruitful business trip.”

Affiliate marketing supplier Netrefer has also confirmed its participation at ICE 2014, according to chief executive Julian Buhagiar.

“Our participation at ICE was incredibly successful and we even signed up clients at the event,” Mr Buhagiar said. “It is a very busy time for us and we are seeing year-on-year growth in our gaming-related business particularly as our product can help increase revenues by up to 100 per cent. This was the biggest ICE event ever and we have been told that next year’s will be even bigger. We confirmed our participation after being told that space for 2014 was already running out and the event was not even over. Malta had a fantastic presence this year – there were about 40 to 50 companies represented and you could hear Maltese spoken in many areas. It was testament to the strength Malta is enjoying.”

Krysta Vella and Anna Forsström, who travelled to ICE to represent Betting Connections, the Sliema-based recruiter, lauded the opportunities the event presented.

“ICE definitely provided a keyhole view into the online and land-based betting world on all possible levels. It helped to continue building brand awareness by reinforcing Betting Connections’ positive reputation through the face-to-face promotion of our recruitment solution. This is with a doubt the place to be to network and gain more insight to the industry. We hope to have the opportunity to visit again.”