[WATCH] GamingMalta to promote Malta as centre of excellence in gaming industry

Gaming Malta to promote and evolve gaming in Malta • Video by Ray Attard

The Malta Gaming Authority’s (MGA) Executive Chairman Joseph Cuschieri announced that the launch of Gaming Malta was a strategic initiative that was part of a long-term strategy to reposition Malta within the gaming industry.

Cuschieri stressed that GamingMalta aimed to separate the Malta Gaming Authority’s (MGA) role as a regulator from that of marketing and advertising which it was also recently carrying out.

“GamingMalta will be responsible for promoting Malta as a centre of excellence and of helping the MGA to promote the growth of the industry on our shores,” Cuschieri explained.

Parliamentary Secretary for economic growth and competitiveness Jose Herrera said that the gaming industry was a good example of how the government can work with private industries.

“GamingMalta will be a game changer in the way the industry functions. The MGA will no longer work as a promoter of the industry, but focus on its role as a regulator,” Herrera explained.

“The idea of GamingMalta is built on the success of FinanceMalta, which essentially carries out the same function in the financial services industry, which is another strong industry on the island.”

Herrera added that GamingMalta will also be working to come up with new and better ideas to strengthen the industry.

“It will be anticipating market changes by working with stakeholders and it will also be looking into new markets that have as yet not been tapped into,” Herrera said explaining that the growth of the industry in Malta was expected to increase employment opportunities even for Maltese people.

“As announced in the Budget, we are also looking forward to launching a Gaming Academy later this year,” Herrera said. “This would essentially mean that Maltese people would be better qualified to work in the industry which is largely dominated by foreign employees.”

GamingMalta’s first chairman Christian Samut said that he truly believed that GamingMalta could make a difference in the future of the industry and in the implementation of action plans, not just in promotion.

“Malta’s gaming industry is one where each one of us has a specific role to play to make gaming happen in the country,” Sammut said stressing that Malta was in a unique position compared to other countries.