Bringing the industry together
SUN, SEA, SLOTS AND SUMMITS IN MALTA AHEAD OF MAY’S CASINOBEATS SUMMIT conference
and exhibition in St Julian’s, we spoke to Enrico Bradamante, Founder and Chairman of the iGEN trade association, about the health of the iGaming industry in Malta
BY MARTYN ELLIOTT
T
hat Malta is an obvious stop on the betting and gaming industry conference circuit is testament to the work of the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) and the island’s government over the past 20 years. The early adoption of a licensing regime for online gambling,
68 SBC LEADERS • MARCH 2022
coupled with a favourable corporate tax rate, encouraged companies such as Betsson Group and NetEnt to set up operations in Malta and a high-value industry has since grown up around them. Today, that industry employs around 8,000 of the island’s population of 515,000 and, depending on which statistical model is being used,
generates between 8.5% and 13.5% of the country’s GDP. iGaming is now firmly established as a key part of the nation’s economy, and the nation is equally well established as a crucial hub for the industry. As Bradamante puts it: “Malta has certainly reached what we call a critical mass of competencies of skill sets and therefore, today, I would say is the home of iGaming excellence. I don't think that there is another location that has as many companies and as many staff that are working in the online gambling industry.” The membership list of iGEN certainly backs up that view. Major global operators such as Betsson,
