During a visit by Minister of Finance, the Economy and Investment Tonio Fenech to Maltco Offices in Lija yesterday afternoon, the company announced that following the successful financial bid for a second 10-year concession related to the operation of lotteries in Malta – in which it had the highest offer at €39,100,000, it is now investing a further €5 million to improve the quality of service offered to its customers.
Minister Fenech thanked Maltco for its trust and commitment to Malta. He noted that “the company has been operating the local lotteries since 2004, during which it has undertaken significant investment to improve the quality of games offered to its customers. Last year, following a competitive tendering process whereby MALTCO satisfied all the technical requirements and submitted the most advantageous financial bid of €39,100,000 it was awarded a 10-year concession and a second licence to operate the National Lotteries.”
This year, Maltco has embarked on a complete overhaul to its existing games portfolio introducing the game of the Grand Lottery, among others. This complete overhaul was made possible as the company re-invested significantly in the latest state-of-the art technology and equipment focusing primarily on more operational features such as the digital cameras and the ticket checkers which add to both the Agents’ and Players’ value-added service. This investment, which also includes the installation of terminals in all Agents’ outlets distributed across Malta and Gozo, reached €5 million.
Minister Fenech explained that up till the 1st quarter of 2012, MALTCO has contributed more than €130 million to the Maltese economy in way of licence fees, lottery duty, unclaimed prizes and taxes.
During this visit, Minister Fenech referred to European Commission’s Winter Forecast issued a few hours earlier. The Minister described this report as another confirmation of Malta’s standing-out performance in terms of economic growth and jobs. Indeed, the EU forecasts that Malta will have the second highest growth rate in the euro area at 1.5%. Unfortunately, the euro area will again marginally experience a decline at -0.3%. In particular, Cyprus, a similar island-state, will see a decline of 3.5%.
The Commission expresses its confidence that this growth will continue to translate itself in jobs, as Unemployment, forecasted for 2013 is 6.4%, marginally lower than 6.5%. Once again - the euro area will experience another unemployment increase - from 11.4 to 12.1%. “This is the reality we are facing on our doorsteps. This is why we have to continue ensuring the stability of our finances, invest in the right incentives to attract more FDI and support further local business growth” concluded Minister Fenech.
Malto CEO Dr. Katakis outlined the investment that the company has already incurred since last July when it was awarded the 2nd 10-year concession and a second licence to operate the National Lottery Games.
“This €44 million investment which includes the concession fee of €39 million and the €5 million in the latest state-of-the art technology and equipment installed in all the 225 outlets is enough proof that MALTCO, supported by INTRALOT’S technology and know-how is fully committed to provide maximum value to its stakeholders.” stated Dr Katakis.
He stated that “Our strategy for the next 10 years is to give optimum service to our players whilst making our games more attractive. This could be possible by the recent introduction of the new version of the Lotos Horizon system which enables the display of impressive multimedia content for MALTCO Games Portfolio. Furthermore the new PHOTON terminals allow for ease-of-use, efficient and secure features focusing on speed and reliability”.
MALTCO will continue offering to the people of Malta new exciting gaming experiences, and shall also make annual contributions to the Responsible Gaming Fund.