Colombia leads the gaming industry in the region

These are some of the countries that had commercial representation last Friday, September 16 in Bogotá: Bulgaria, Slovenia, Armenia, Austria, Italy, Germany, Spain, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Malta, Brazil, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, the United States States, Ecuador, Curaçao, Venezuela, among others.

From the eSports Betting Bar area, the organizers launched GAT Expo Cartagena 2023, the large-format fair that will take place on March 29 and 30 next year at the Las Américas Convention Center. This area of the exhibition, the networking center of GAT Showcase, strongly attracted the attention of visitors due to the simulations and live game demonstrations coordinated by Fedecolde and the exhibition of the Mobadoo company's electronic sports betting software, which arrives with force to new markets of players in Latin America.

Coljuegos, the regulatory authority for the gaming industry in the country, was present with its management staff belonging to the commercial vice-presidency, the financial and new business management, the planning department and its communications group. From its institutional stand, Coljuegos addressed the concerns of operators and visitors.

John Jairo Altamiranda, Vice President of Commercial Development of Coljuegos, highlighted the contributions of the legal gaming industry to the country's economy and the projection for the end of 2022 of a collection of close to 720,000 million pesos, resources that will be allocated to the budget of the National Government for the health of Colombians. He pointed out: “Today Colombia is the leader in Latin America in the regulation of online games and that makes us feel proud, we are a success story in the region and we have collected impressive figures thanks to its application. It is necessary to continue cultivating the competitive advantage, which is why the entity promotes permanent updating, analyzing various types of innovative games that can be introduced into the Colombian market to make available to operators and help combat illegality.”

José Aníbal Aguirre, CEO of the Gaming & Technology Expo events, stated: “The meeting had an outstanding representation of companies from Colombia and international brands with offices in Bogotá, Lima and Buenos Aires, among other Latin American capitals. As the crow flies, roulette and casino equipment exhibitors tell me that they have indeed signed deals for approximately eight million dollars. The emphasis and innovation of the eSports theme in our events has aroused great interest among operators, since bets on these electronic sports can be added to both the eSports Betting Bar and authorized online platforms. Definitively, this showcase format with a single day of investment in time and money for the exhibitor and the sponsor, is a guarantee of productivity in real businesses. We are already thinking of expanding the space for GAT Showcase next year”.

Cornazar, its affiliates and directors attended the business day and spoke with suppliers, manufacturers and operators, ratifying their union leadership. Elizabeth Maya Cano, president of Cornazar, was the protagonist of the event, participating in the opening ceremony and the launch of GAT Expo Cartagena 2023; She highlighted the importance of Gaming & Technology Expo as an extraordinary tool to strengthen ties between the players in the field in Latin America.

The participating companies of GAT Showcase Bogotá, were: Novomatic Latam, Merkur Gaming, EGT, Win Systems, IGT, BetConstruct, Pragmatic Play, Interblock, GLI, Altenar B2B, Alfastreet, Aruze, Aristocrat, Mobadoo, JVL, Betplay, Metamap, America Simulcast, Cockpit Gaming, Copag, Trebol Carpet, RCFC Legal, RPCol, Radio Marcas, Revista el Congreso and Sadekya.

For his part, Evert Montero, president of Fecoljuegos, highlighted the commitment of businessmen to the industry, the seriousness of the sector in the country and the importance of the technological component in the evolution of entertainment. “We see a lot of technology, capacity and willingness to do business, which in the end will translate into a very important contribution in transfers for the health of Colombians. There will always be things to improve and update in terms of regulation, but we are aware that regulation controls illegality; the industry is well and healthy, but we must be vigilant because unfair competition is great and affects the sector.”

Rocío Acosta Jiménez, who is the president of the Federation of Lotteries of Colombia, Fedelco, was also one of the personalities present at the opening of the showcase and during the afternoon she attended interviews with the media and the magazine El Congreso, which made an exhaustive contest coverage.

The balance of GAT Showcase Bogotá is optimal, according to the criteria of exhibitors and visitors who have expressed their satisfaction, doing business in eight hours and updating their commercial relations with a clear vision of the present moment and very positive expectations for 2023.