During a visit this morning to the Lotteries and Gaming Authority, Dr. Edward Zammit Lewis, Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness and Economic Growth identified the large number of employees within the Gaming industry, and hence the importance of the industry towards the economy.

Dr Zammit Lewis said, “we recognize that the Gaming industry is one of the key economic contributors to Malta’s GDP, having around 7,000 people employed directly in all gaming sectors including online and land based whilst having a further 3,000 employed indirectly within the supportive industries - we will work towards increasing these figures”.

Zammit Lewis affirmed that the new Government, as assured in its electoral manifesto, will be supportive towards the gaming industry.

Dr. Zammit Lewis said “I held several meetings with the LGA whereby I was briefed about LGA’s strategy for the industry, the industry’s core issues and the regulatory challenges within the European dimension.  This morning I shall be holding technical meetings with LGA’s CEO and Management in order to get fully immersed in all the issues, challenges and opportunities for the coming years.”

The Parliamentary Secretary thanked the staff at LGA for their good work and initiatives and expressed that the government already has a clear roadmap for promoting the right context for a number of initiatives related to this sector.

The Hon. Edward Zammit Lewis concluded that the government has already embarked on a process of assessing which legislation needs to be improved upon in ensuring that Malta continues to attract investments and continues to create value added jobs ensuring that Malta remains a prime jurisdiction of high reputation.