The Malta Gaming Authority received more than 20 applications from new gaming companies to start the licensing process in order to operate from Malta, the Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation, Silvio Schembri, announced.
Schembri personally met with prospective investors and encouraged investment in Malta for the strengthening of this sector during the 2019 edition of ICE London, the B2B gaming event, which brings together the international online and offline gaming sectors.
Schembri explained that operators and investors were highly interested in Malta’s proactive stance on embracing new technologies, with particular reference to the guidelines that the Malta Gaming Authority issued on the use of Distributed Ledger Technologies and acceptance of Virtual Currencies in a Sandbox Environment.
The PS expressed his satisfaction at Malta’s huge presence in ICE London, a perfect platform for Malta to showcase itself as the ‘home of gaming excellence’.
In fact, the 2019 edition of ICE London exhibitors featured from 66 nations including Malta. Around 11% of the exhibitors are Malta-based which means that aside from exhibitors from the hosting country (UK), Malta has the highest number of exhibitors followed then by the United States.
“For this year’s ICE London edition, Malta, through the Malta Gaming Authority and Gaming Malta, explained the new gaming overhaul which came into effect as from last summer. The interest in the new law was overwhelming since it lessens by far unnecessary bureaucratic procedures as well as strengthens the regulator’s role to be in a better position to tackle challenges while keeping in mind consumers’ protection”, Schembri said.
“Such forward-looking initiatives which were taken in the past months generated a lot of interest amongst operators who already operate in Malta, and others who expressed interest in establishing a presence”, stated the parliamentary secretary. He continued by adding that great interest was particularly shown by operators and investors from the esports sector who expressed their enthusiasm for Malta’s esports strategy which will be launched in the coming weeks.
During his visit, Schembri visited the Malta Gaming Authority’s stand, which is participating for the 5th time in this year’s ICE London exhibition.