A record 450 delegates participated in the seventh edition of the MiGS international iGaming seminar held recently at the Corinthia Hotel, St Julian’s.
The first session included a comprehensive presentation by Global Betting and Gaming Consultants entitled ‘iGaming: past, present and future’ which highlighted how the iGaming industry is shaping up against the land-based businesses through their Global Betting and Gaming Consultants’s iGaming index and the GBGC 50 index, two indices that have become a benchmark for the industry.
This was followed by a presentation by PKF Malta entitled ‘Malta – sustaining itself as an international jurisdiction’.
One of the highlights of the day was a session entitled ‘A Century of iGaming’. Moderated by Sue Schneider, partner of MiGS, the session included five iGaming veterans: Pontus Lindwell, CEO of Betsson AB, Paris Smith, CEO of Pinnacle Gaming, Franz Wohlfahrt, retired CEO of Novamtic, Mark Blandford, founder of SportingBet plc and Calvin Ayre, the founder of BoDog Entertainment.
The veterans brought their unique perspective from the lessons they learnt over the years and offered their insight into potential solutions to current industry struggles as well as predicted where the future successes may be realised.
In his opening address, Economy Minister Chris Cardona outlined the government’s commitment to make this sector flourish even further, hand-in-hand with the Malta Gaming Authority. He said that with Malta’s economic growth predicted to reach new heights, outstripping that of nearly every other EU country, and with the national deficit projected to fall to just over one per cent, the country’s economic climate for all industries, in particular online gaming, has never been better.
Dr Cardona said the MGA is reviewing Malta’s gaming regulatory framework and implementation mechanisms, with the aim of having one single framework delivering consistency, and results on empirically-based research.
Joseph Cuschieri, executive chairman of the MGA, addressed the delegates with a presentation showing how the authorities progressed in the past year, their recent achievements, the challenges to come and the vision for 2015 and beyond.
MiGS was named as a top 10 iGaming conference to go to in 2014.