PR boost for Malta

Malta’s Independent newspaper reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) blog has given the Mediterranean island a PR boost, noting the creation of a services industry in which i-gaming licensing and regulation has delivered exceptional economic performance.

Nowhere else in the European Union does the i-gaming sector account for such a large part of the economy, the blog notes, observing that it contributes to the nation’s trade balance and job creation.

The blog notes that Malta has enjoyed something of an economic boom in recent years, boosting economic growth.

“Together with the expansion, the economy reoriented toward the services sector. That sector includes gaming firms: providers of gambling and betting services, done the traditional way at lottery counters and casinos, but more importantly online or on mobile devices,” the IMP blog outlines.

“In this sector, Malta’s advantage over the rest of the EU is staggering both in the relative size of the gaming industry (almost 12 percent of Malta’s total gross value added in 2016) and its recent expansion (the share in Malta’s gross value added grew by 9 percentage points between 2004 and 2014).”

The IMF noted that by 2016, gaming firms and other related business provided 4.4 percent of the full time jobs in Malta, with the island’s reputation as an English-speaking jurisdiction with a business-friendly tax regime and political stability enhancing its attraction.

“Malta keeps refining the sector’s regulations, and recently adopted new rules making online gaming firms fully subject to EU anti-money laundering requirements,” the blog concludes. “These include, among others, transparency in the ownership of companies, and cooperation among national financial intelligence units.”

Coming on the heels of the negative publicity following Italian police moves against organised crime which have mentioned Malta, the positivity of the IMF blog will probably be welcomed.

The full blog can be read here.

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