PHL gaming industry to register P160B in revenues in 2017 — Pagcor

The Philippine gaming industry is seen to register as much as P160 billion in revenues this year given the renewed optimism in the sector, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) said Tuesday.

“(Revenue projection) for the whole year, for all properties including private ones, is about 155 to 160 billion pesos for 2017. Roughly about 30 percent more,” Pagcor Chief Andrea N. Domingo told reporters in a briefing in Pasay City.

“Now I can say with a lot of confidence that the Philippines is one of the best places to invest now, to go to. It’s safe now. There should be a level playing field in all transactions with the government,” she added.

Domingo later clarified that the 30-percent growth she was referring to was the increase in government targets from 2016 to 2017, but she did not elaborate on this.

Asked for the growth drivers seen for the period, Domingo said the change in government, as well as the Filipino’s hospitality will help entice more players to enter the country.

“We’re more friendly with other ASEAN countries, offering a level playing field. We have a very safe country to go to, we have a lovely people, hospitable people, and a very strong President who does what he preaches and makes good his promises,” she said.

The state-run gaming firm posted P55.06 billion in gross income in 2016 which it attributed to the surge in income from gaming that includes table games, electronic games and bingo operations, as well as fees from licensed casinos and offshore gaming.

This translated to a 25.45 percent increase in total contributions to the government’s revenues.

“From P29.07 billion in 2015, our total contributions to nation-building in 2016 amounted to P36.47 billion. This wasP7.40 billion higher than the 2015 figures,” Domingo said in a separate statement. — BAP, GMA News