Interview with Rodrigo Guíñez Saavedra, general manager at the Chilean Casino Association
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he head of the association that represents 16 privately-owned gaming venues in Chile said that after a 12-month wait, they were called to a formal meeting. “We arrive with the belief that our industry’s problems had been understood and that we would be offered a solution. But they say there is no answer and that we should continue with our pending lawsuits.”
“Public policy is not adapting to current circumstances: 11,000 jobs are at risk, we have an industry in crisis and that is going to affect municipalities and city councils. There was an investment of over USD 2,000 million,” he added.
“We were told of an upcoming Casino Modernization Bill for March. We are speaking about a sector in crisis which needs to be rescued. We find it very inappropriate to be called to speak about modernization in these circumstances. We went from an industry in crisis to an industry at risk,” he continued.
“We believe that Latin America is a bit behind in terms of online gaming. Before the COVID-19 hit, we held several meetings with the authorities to discuss this. It is something that bears major importance in these difficult times,” Guíñez Saavedra added after saying that they were also informed of an online gaming bill that is likely to be submitted in this quarter.
“We are going to work this month to prepare a presentation. We want to be in line with the rest of the world in terms of online gaming,” he added.
See the full interview in Spanish on our YouTube channel.
