How have you experienced the reunion of the main players of the industry after almost two years?
Well, I'm living it with emotion and intensity. I definitely think that meeting us again physically helps to build the sector, to strengthen knowledge and reflection. I believe that it is a fundamental ingredient that all of us who are at the forefront of this industry that are so important for Colombia and for the world need, so we are living it in a very special way and with great optimism.

As a federation, what do you think are the priority measures that should be taken to strengthen and promote the gambling sector in Colombia?
Undoubtedly, strengthening depends largely on the regulator and the decisions they make regarding regulations. We have been constantly insisting that there must be a much more robust regulation, and that there must be systems on the part of the regulator that allow the processes for companies that are requesting a series of procedures to be much more dynamic in order to make the process much more agile. operation. Of course, for us it is extremely important that there is greater control over the issue of legality, which is ultimately what affects us the most as legal entrepreneurs. We need you to open up the game grid much more, because it is not only an important resource that is there to generate resources for health and wealth for the sector, but it is also one of the great weapons in the fight against illegality.

Whenever the illegal can offer all the possible offer that there is of games, while we are very restricted because we can only offer those that are regulated. On that we are working on things of the regulation that will have to be reviewed to make this activity much more dynamic.

We are in the fourth industrial revolution. I believe that it is time to start looking at whether Law 643, which is already a bit old, outdated, should be renewed to make this activity much more dynamic and to exploit its great potential.

What balance do you make about this physical event and the conferences that they prepared?
I think the conferences are wonderful. There is no bad conference. There are some topics that surely one has already heard, or opinions that one shares or not, and that is precisely what enriches us as an industry. It has been wonderful, I think there have been interesting proposals, not only in the conference room, but also to be able to share experiences face to face. This leads to a dynamic in the sector to build all together and improve every day. How to reactivate faster, how to offer better games, how to work on regulatory issues.

What are the goals for the remainder of this year?
In the federation we are working on a code of self-regulation of communications that is very important. We have to provide the regulator and the state with very serious proposals where we know that we have to have limits so that it is not seen as a social danger for some sectors of the citizenry. We are working on compliance issues regarding the control of suspicious operations because it is part of our reputation, and it is a letter of introduction so that the banking and financial sectors, as well as the government, know that it is a judicious sector. We are also working on a diploma course that is already in operation, where we have training for compliance officers on the whole issue of new rules and regulations on the issue of income of money to that sector. Of course we continue to work very hard on reputational issues, we continue to work on the legislative issue, we are very aware of the tax reform, of illegality. We also have objectives that go far beyond the sector, and that is to start looking outside and looking at the United Nations proposals to end hunger by 2030, with decent jobs. I think it is time to think beyond our business and see what is happening in the world.

This year I think we are not going to do a face-to-face event. Then comes Miami, SAGSE, in October comes Las Vegas and another series of events. What we do plan to do is a virtual meeting with the government at the end of October, which will be very important.

Have you met local or international visitors?
I have met not only locals but also people who have come from other countries. I think it's wonderful that the regulator from Mexico has come. From Europe we have seen several businessmen interested in looking at the Colombian market, and, of course, people from Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica.

Were you able to share experiences with the Mexican regulator?
Yes, I think they are very advanced on some issues, such as e-sports. Very soon we are going to go to Mexico to see how they work it. It helps us to learn from the models of other countries, both the triumphs and things in which they have not worked so well.