"There’s no political or economic risk for the implementation of IR"

"For us, Brazil is a big market, although it is still closed. Compared with other places, it will be of high impact for our industry as a whole," said Vidal Caamaño. He recalled that the casino is not a gold mine and therefore should not be opened indiscriminately. "The sector should be regulated so that the activity is profitable and there is no predatory competition, as we have seen in some places, such as Panama and Chile," he said.

Complementing, Fredric said that Brazil, Japan and Singapore are the largest markets today, although the first two are still in an earlier step, involving the participation of Clive Tilley, who said that São Paulo is a large market that should be addressed by the casino industry.

"From a political and economic point of view, there are no risks for the implementation of an integrated casino resort. And from my perspective, we should think of integrated casinos in other regions as well. We always study sustainability to enter into a project in any place, and the same will happen when the Brazilian market opens up," said Tilley.

"You are writing on a blank page and can regulate in a healthy way a market that in many started in the wrong way. In the case of Brazil, everything is transparent and the moment of analysis is crucial for a well organized industry," Tilley explained. Demand, he said, should take into account who the player is and how he is served, both in the online game and in the physical rooms.

Peter Hoetzinger, of Century Casinos, said it is important to increase the economic impact for a particular region. "I think in Brazil half the population does not play, so I believe that medium-sized casinos should also be implemented to serve this part of the population, maintaining large venues integrated in only a few regions," he said, noting that investors may be attracted to these smaller facilities together with local operators.

For Hoetzinger, to invest or not in a market, "we must analyze the amount of licenses to be granted, and for the opening of partnerships is essential the presence of a local partner, who knows the regional reality and ensures the proximity to the public," he commented.

According to Hoetzinger, "a company like ours always evaluates very well the partners to be chosen, given the characteristics of the groups that are looking for us. For this reason we will attract serious companies if the market is well regulated and with strict rules." He also said that investment in regional casinos could amount to around US$ 50 million, allowing for the development of not-so-complex casinos that would require billions of dollars of investment, "which may hamper the implementation of the gaming industry in the short term.”

Francisco Vidal said that many companies are able to invest in smaller operations, "which could guarantee the expansion of the offer of too big venues has been said in some of the presentations and also in the speech of some executives involved in the discussions of the opening of the industry. The criteria should be the quality of infrastructure, employability and meeting the needs of society," he said.

Source: GMB