Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness and Economic Growth, Jose’ Herrera, today praised the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) on its interim performance report for the period January to June 2015, which provides a statistical overview for both the land-based and remote gaming sectors.

For the period under review, 43 new remote gaming licences were issued. Furthermore, 22 licences were terminated, 8% less when compared to the corresponding period in 2014, and suspended a total of eight licences, 3% more than what had been suspended in the corresponding period of 2014.

As at the end of June 2015 there were 277 registered remote gaming operators, collectively holding 474 licences. This represents a 14.5% increase over what was registered during the same period in 2014. This indicates that the remote gaming industry in Malta has continued to grow. The report also provides more detailed information about land-based activities through casinos, gaming parlours, commercial bingo halls and the national lotteries.

MGA will publish a full year industry performance report in May 2016 when it issues its Annual Report for the financial year ending Dec 2015. The Parliamentary Secretary emphasises the importance of the gaming sector in Malta as a main provider of high quality jobs and as an excellent model which other national gaming jurisdictions follow. The gaming industry provides Malta with more than 12% of its GDP. Parliamentary Secretrary Herrera promises his continued total support to the authority.