Участник:“Now is the time to come to the Philippines”.
That was the message PAGCOR chairman Alejandro Tengco gave at ICE London and amidst strong results for 2023.
During an interview with Asia Gaming Brief at the recent International Casino Exhibition in London, PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro H. Tengco had one clear message: the Philippines is open for business and ready to serve as a stable base for operators from across the globe. His remarks came as the Philippines gambling regulator revealed strong results for the last year, recording an increase of over 90 percent in online gaming activities in 2023 compared to the previous year.
Revenues in the eGaming sector that includes e-games, e-bingo, specialty games and sports betting, reached PHP 58.16 billion ($1.03 billion), which is a 92.32% increase from previous earnings and over 1,000 E-Gaming sites were licensed in the Philippines in 2023. The regulator is expecting to continue this journey of success and projecting revenues of PHP 61.75 billion ($1.09 billion) for the E-Games sector in 2024.
During the Asia Round Table discussions at ICE London, Chairman Tengco highlighted the fact that the Philippines is currently the only Southeast Asian country regulating online gambling, and that much progress has been made to clean up the image of the sector. Especially the issues of POGOs and the apparent expansion of these operators from gambling into other, often illegitimate, activities in the past has been a focus for PAGCOR in recent times.
Over 250 previous Master and Sub Licensees under the old POGO scheme had to reapply since 2023, and the current number of licensees stands at 75. Despite this reduction in numbers, Tengco mentioned that revenues are up, highlighting the benefits of balanced regulation. To achieve this, PAGCOR is reducing its fees, thereby encouraging operators to obtain official government approval for their businesses and making illegal and unlicensed operations less appealing.