Oct 21 – Full Text Of The Chief Minister’s Speech At This Morning’s Gaming Breakfast
The following is the full text of a speech delivered by the Chief Minister at a Gaming Breakfast held this morning as part of the Gibraltar Day events.
Ministers, Sir Peter, Members of Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen. Friends.
May I on behalf of Her Majesty's Government of Gibraltar warmly welcome you to this venue.
I have delivered a number of speeches in the past twenty-four hours in which I have been able to highlight the successes of different parts of the Gibraltar economy.
You might think that with the GBGA fresh from a defeat in the High Court in respect of new UK rules, my address in respect of the online gaming industry might be a little more down beat.
But the reality for those who form part of the industry is far from downbeat.
Indeed, today Gibraltar wakes up to a front page article in one newspaper which discloses that the GBGA continues its challenge, now to the taxation aspects of the new regime proposed for the United Kingdom.
As in the earlier litigation Her Majesty's Government of Gibraltar will not be joining in the action against Her Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom.
Between governments it is best that we try to resolve our differences politically and not legally if we can avoid it!
But we are interested in ensuring that in the litigation we will not see my Government's position or the legislation or economics of gaming in Gibraltar misrepresented in any way.
For that reason we will be involved as interested parties again in this case.
The last piece of GBGA litigation actually yielded a particularly helpful interpretation from Mr Justice Green on the EU status of Gibraltar as a distinct jurisdiction to the UK for EU purposes.
Although highly technical this has been a long overdue recognition of the reality of the Gib/UK relationship in an EU context.
That is hugely positive and will help the Government help the online gaming industry in coming months.
The industry continues to grow in Gibraltar at a measured pace.
As many of you will be aware there are more companies wishing to establish themselves in the Gibraltar market than the Government is prepared to licence.
We have continued the prudent course steered by Sir Peter Caruana when he was Chief Minister in our attitude to licencing new entrants into the market.
Indeed the online gaming industry has had a salutary effect on the usually unforgiving nature of politics in Gibraltar.
All political parties have been united in the approach to the organic growth of the industry and the careful selection of licensees.
And as a Government our approach will always be to also listen carefully to the experts not just on matters directly affecting you in regulatory terms but also in matters peripheral but essential to you.
So after the catastrophic fire at our power station in the early part of the year we have invested in more temporary power generation than we need, so that you have the peace of mind that we have redundancy of supply.
We have put in place protocols to provide information should we suffer catastrophic power failure again, something we believe is now as unlikely in Gibraltar as in any advanced economy.
And we are investing in the infrastructure you need, like telecommunications and the infrastructure we all need like the airport tunnel and the facilities for new office blocks to be developed by the private sector.
The emergence of the new Gibraltar International Bank will also be hugely positive for the industry, I know.
And the new Gibraltar University may become home I hope for courses reflecting the expertise that the gaming industry represents in Gibraltar, in particular software and the like.
In addition, the transformation that we are seeing in Gibraltar benefits all of us.
Our Commonwealth Park is a green lung; a space to breathe, think and enjoy in the centre of our city that in our view was as necessary as the new office facilities also required.
That and a new five star hotel and others to follow with better and more sophisticated entertainment and dining options add to how you and we can enjoy our downtime in Gibraltar and how we can entertain guests from outside.
Hence why we continue to see growth in our industry despite the challenges we are facing together.
Because we are working together. Listening to each other. Understanding each other’s concerns and aspirations. Delivering solutions to problems in partnership. A public/private partnership of a different type.
One in which the regulator and licensing authority nurture an industry in a way that ensures that end users get the best service and our economy can boast the growth I have been able to announce this year.
A large part of Gibraltar's success is your success.
10.3% GDP growth. 6.5% growth in employment in one year.
And the third nation in GDP per capita terms.
A large part of that growth is driven by an industry that has only just begun to show the world how Gibraltar can be a centre for innovation and multi-cultural business development that is already the envy of the world in your sector.
Because when it comes to online gaming it's the Rock of Gibraltar that represents the cutting edge.
Let's continue to work together and nurture our relationship so that our symbiotic success continues to impress the rest of the world.
Perhaps that may be the only way to make others realise how wrong they are to ignore the warnings of a responsible and successful industry.
