Unprecedented academic conference between public authorities and businessmen was held in Punta Cana
The integration of Dominican industry leaders with their Colombian counterparts was evident in Gat Caribe 2022; the presence of a group of deputies of the Congress of the Republic in the morning hours of yesterday, June 9, in the discussion of
the New Regulation Project for the Gaming Industry, convened by the National Association of Sports Banks and Congressman Luis Henríquez, was a great success. The first speech of the forum was given by
Ricardo Nadal, President of the National Association of Sports Banks, who addressed the audience, made up of legal operators of the country, exhibitors and sponsors present at Gat Caribe, with an emotional speech that highlighted the opportunity of this unprecedented and open meeting, of utmost importance, given the decisive moment that demands changes in the regulations governing gambling in the Dominican Republic. Some statements of the promoter of this conversation: "Today is a beautiful day.
After many years of attending hundreds of meetings, we see gathered in this precinct, a significant number of 10 deputies decided to modify the existing regulation for games of chance in the country, not only for their particular interest or that of the businessmen linked to this productive line, but in compliance with a demand of the President of the Republic Luis Abinader, enshrined in Decrees 63-22 and 295-22 which declare of national interest the regularization of gambling and require the legislators to act promptly to comply with the purposes of technological updating and regulation demanded by all the verticals of an industry that has a basic active market of 7 million citizens, to whom it is necessary to provide better guarantees and quality in the services provided by the gambling companies in all the verticals of gambling in the Dominican Republic. My dream is to achieve this purpose in order to achieve justice and development". Afterwards, Congressman
Luis Henríquez thanked the response to this call by Congressmen Pedro Mota, Geraldo Casanova, Rosa Hilda Genao, María Mercedes Fernández, Braulio Espinal, Benedicto Hernández, Mercedes Rodríguez, Socrates Pérez and Omar Fernández, in his capacity as former director of the Directorate of Casinos and Gaming of the Ministry of Finance of the Dominican Republic. In the same way, he praised the opportunity that Gat Caribe has
offered them for their new regulatory project and in a detailed exposition of motives, he presented the content and the benefits of the draft bill already filed in the respective commission of the Chamber of Deputies. At the same time, he invited those present to give their opinions and contribute with their knowledge and experience to enrich the basic document that will be submitted to the legislators for their consideration. Luis Henríquez affirms: "The project revolves around the creation of a General Directorate of Gaming, including casinos, sports banks and lotteries, which will be the only regulatory entity that unifies the vision and tasks when promoting new technologies in gaming, organizing all the actors that currently play a role within the sector. This has definitely been a very successful dialogue and we are especially grateful for the facilities and welcome we have received from the organizers of Gat Expo Caribe".
Evert Montero Cárdenas, President of Fecoljuegos, was the person chosen to moderate this discussion. José Aníbal Aguirre, CEO of Gaming & Technology Expo, closed the forum by expressing his satisfaction and gratitude for the realization of such a transcendent institutional event, given the quality of its protagonists and the bonds of cooperation and mutual growth that are being created with the institutions and guilds of Colombia, the Dominican Republic and the Latin American region, which is definitely beginning to live a new era. The second part of the conferences and panels in the afternoon at The Westin Punta Cana Resort & Club, was conducted and coordinated by attorneys María Paola Isaza and Iliana Pineda from V&I Legal Consultants and Fecoljuegos. Evert Montero Cárdenas participated as speakers with the conference: "Importance of the self-regulation of advertising and communications in games of chance". The panel "Regulatory experience and challenges for new regulations in the region", presented the panorama of this first order topic, exposed by Liliana Viveros from Betcris Dominicana, together with the jurists mentioned above.
The panel dealt with the Colombian experience from the institutional point of view and how regulation has direct effects on the legalization of activities. Successes, failures and lessons learned will be of great support for jurisdictions in new regulatory processes.
Elizabeth Maya Cano dissertation revolved around the "Opportunities of Localized Games", explaining in detail the diagnosis and main current problems, as well as the business opportunities they offer to expand their portfolios extending them to games operated by internet, virtual betting, eSports, and other innovative applications and entertainment platforms. Cornazar, through
Tomás Perner, member of its board of directors, presented José Aníbal Aguirre with a plaque in recognition of his untiring work in favor of the unity and integration of the gaming industry for more than 20 years in Colombia and Latin America, with the organization of fairs, congresses, symposiums, seminars and expositions. MetaMap presented the last conference of the day, by
Camila Fernandez, Senior Enterprise Director of this company specialized in cybersecurity, data validation, local data connections in all countries of the region, to ensure transparent operations and avoid fraud. June 9 closed with the networking offered by BetConstruct, main sponsor of GAT Caribe 2022, with the Open Bar enjoyed by all participating businessmen. Sponsors and exhibitors: BetCris, Pragmatic Play, Altenar B2B and MetaMap, Cockpit, Gaming, Evolution Gaming, Juancito Sport, BetConstruct, Igc Gaming Systems and Solutions, Zataca and Loteka. Today in the afternoon, the exhibition will open again with stands where roulettes, slots, and online platform services will be exhibited. The academic component of Gat Caribe includes today, June 10, the Compliance Workshop, a topic suggested by local operators and welcomed by Fecoljuegos, which will make a broad presentation of relevant contents on the topic. The main topic will be addressed by the President of Compliance Officers of Fecoljuegos and Fecoljuegos executives.