Rebecca Liggero talks to Hon. Jose Herrera member of the Maltese government and in charge of the online gambling component of the goverment. He talks about how prevalent the online gambling industry is in Malta.
The Honorable Jose Herrera of the Maltese Governmentis responsible for the iGaming sector in Malta. He confirmed Malta is the largest jurisdiction in the EU and gaming contributes between 10 and 12% of Malta’s revenue making it the second biggest industry on island. He highlighted the iGaming industry directly contributes to Malta’s economy and creates a positive ripple effect by bringing in employees from other nations who then pay rent and spend money and also creates jobs in other industries on the island.
“We have over 250 foreign operators; we have granted more than 450 licenses and it’s creating a ripple effect to our economy in the sense that besides employing directly a large amount of people and the government gets all the money through direct taxation.”
Herrera explained the government is doing a lot to continue the promotion of iGaming in Malta, including a push to remove any bad feelings people may have about the industry. For example, the Responsible Gaming Foundation has been created to help people who have gambling additions and this project is also an opportunity to give back from the iGaming industry proceeds.
Low taxes, no governmental conflicts, nice weather, nice people and high standard of living are more reasons why Malta is an attractive location to base an iGaming business. Herrera believes with further education on the perks of living and working in Malta, the industry will continue to grow and flourish.
The development of an “iGaming Academy” is also in the works, a project with the goal of training professionals interested inworking in iGaming and cultivatingmore talent for the industry on island. A shortage of talent is a problem Malta faces, so hopefully this push from the government will help solve some of the employment issues.
