The Mundo Video Corp team met with Juan Carlos Restrepo, president of Asojuegos, who gave us this interview and talked to us about the management that the association has been doing in favor of the gambling industry, as well as his vision of the reaction of Coljuegos.
MV: Internationally, how do you see that the regulator has reacted to help casinos, compared to other countries?
Juan Carlos Restrepo (JCR): The regulator, as in many other spheres of the economy, has had a slow reaction. The help has not been enough, nor at the time we would have liked in localized games, a sector that was closed for almost 9 months, which generated a very big gap. The other gambling segments were much less affected, in general terms, because they were closed for less time.
But we have faced the situation and, little by little, we have managed to have figures close to those of 2019. However, we still have a long way to go.
MV: How have you seen the recovery of the sector since the reopening was approved?
JCR: The beginning of last year was very slow because there were too many conditions that did not allow an immediate recovery. With the passing of the months and the removal of the restrictions, the sector has been picking up.
Obviously we must continue to keep a close eye on the pandemic, because it has not passed and there are many shadows that generate uncertainty. Let's hope that there is no resurgence so that they do not start implementing measures that would force casinos to close again, because that would generate a very strong blow to the economy. We are just recovering.
MV: Do you see online casinos as a risk factor for the recovery of land-based casinos?
JCR: They have to adapt to the circumstances. Online games were born to remain, it is not a passing or conjunctural issue. It is a game modality that is going to take root and is generating very positive results. This has to do not only with how massive it has become and the entertainment it offers to a part of society: it also generates interesting income for health, which is one of the purposes of this rent monopoly.
The physical casinos have to adapt with an offer superior to the one they offer today; to offer new possibilities, other formats to the player. This rearrangement of the offer is already taking place.
They are two different experiences: in the physical one, people entertain themselves, it is for those who like to go out, have fun and socialize. There is room for both business segments because they do not compete, they complement each other.
MV: What do you think Coljuegos should improve to make processes more efficient and facilitate them?
JCR: There are several aspects to improve in Coljuegos. On the one hand, it should be an absolutely technical entity that offers legal certainty with a regulation that not only remains in time, but that is fair and clear.
"On the other hand, it is very important that it modernizes in the technological field, because it seems that, in this sense, the companies it regulates go faster than Coljuegos."
These are all substantial issues that can help to move this industry, which is fundamental in the generation of employment, which offers multiple forms of entertainment to the public and which today has positioned itself as an important factor within the pillars of the Colombian economy. In addition, it is an example of evolution and development of LAFT procedures, having very high standards of compliance in this area.
These are sufficient reasons for the regulator to be a strong, efficient and modern institution that motivates the growth of the industry, in which both the State and the private sector win, because if the private sector does well, the State will do better
