Roberto Rocha said he realized that there is resistance from some sectors of society in relation to some issues and this happens with casinos. "We are the only country in Latin America without casinos and this is against history. I am the author of a project that authorizes casinos in resorts and I support this position because we need to increase our tourism potential."
Brazil, according to him, has excellent weather, no earthquakes risk and yet the country receives 6 million tourists a year. "This is a shame, because the Eiffel Tower receives more tourists than Brazil. When did we have a public tourism policy? We recently spent almost R$ 100 billion with the Olympics and the Pan American Games and the attraction of tourists was punctual. In Singapore, privately invested nearly US$ 11 billion in two casino-integrated resorts and the number of tourists has gone from nearly 6 million to 18 million visitors per year."
According to the senator, the tax question should be well analyzed. "We are not going to be able to attract top players from the outside if we have high taxes. We will have to face this to make the activity self-sustaining and not make the operation unfeasible," he said.
In the evaluation of Evandro Roman, Brazil is undergoing a process of regulation of sports betting and dialogue as the Ministry of Economy has been very productive in order to expedite the finalization of this process. "Regulation should ensure that everything is fair to all concerned. Operators, players and the government have to be cared for properly and without intransigence."
For him, urban casinos should also be an additional option to integrated resorts. "Brazil has 8.5 million square kilometers and we have very different realities to restrict casinos to the mega-business model. Alternative models should be designed to address regional peculiarities and attract investments of different sizes." According to him, by the end of August the regulation of sports betting should be ready to be implemented and then Brazil could put into practice the regulation of casinos.
Bráulio Melo said that Brazil is experiencing an important moment and that it should focus on the regulation of sports betting, since it is a breakthrough for the gaming industry as a whole. "You can’t leave aside the question of the proper definition of the tax issue and take the process forward so that everything is soon resolved, and the country can discuss other issues involving the activity of gaming."
Magnho José, representing the federal deputy Bacelar, brought results from the Paraná Research poll, which points out that 52% of federal deputies are in favor of all types of gaming. For those who voted against, the highest rejection rate (20.6%) was the risk of money laundering, addiction (17%) and religious issues (10%).
Source: Games Magazine Brasil
