“ZITRO wants to bring its expertise to Brazil and offer thousands of jobs”
Johnny Ortiz starred in GMB Online’s first AGORA BRASIL webinar last week
Johnny Ortiz, founder and president of Zitro, one of the world leaders in manufacturing and development of slots, video bingo and interactive games, was one of the principal speakers at the first GMB online event, where he defended the approval of full gaming in Brazil, and not just for IR’s. Ortiz said: “The big resorts with casinos demand investments that take time and generate jobs and taxes much lower than the broader regulation of gaming in the country”.
Games Magazine Brasil, opened on Thursday afternoon, 05/28, its Live Series streaming the first webinar of the ‘AGORA BRASIL’ cycle, where world gaming authorities debated about “Casinos as a new resource to overcome the crisis” post-pandemic. All speakers were unanimous that IR’s should not be the only alternative to legalize gaming in the country, since Brazil can generate more investment and jobs with a well-regulated and controlled opening of an all-gaming activity.
With deep knowledgeable of the Brazilian market, where he worked for several years, Johnny founded and if president of ZITRO, one of the machine companies of great renown in the world, operating in casinos and bingos In five continents.
Johnny commented that in the year that the government closed bingos in Brazil, there were 80 thousand legal machines operating in Brazil and, today, “ there are more than 500 thousand illegal machines, which do not generate taxes ”. It is an astonishing number on illegal machines by any standards, and in his opinion, it is high time that the government passed legislation in the broadest sense for different types of gaming, including IR’s, urban casinos, bingos, sports betting and online gambling.
According to Ortiz, it is important that the game, in all its nuances, be recognized as an economic activity that generates jobs and taxes, which means a strong economic impulse for the places where it is well regulated.
“Worldwide, gaming is a well-controlled activity and in Brazil it will be no different,” according to the Zitro president and, for this reason, the country will have excellent conditions to control gambling activities.
“With strict compliance, any operation in Brazil will be very well controlled internally and externally. Whoever is against legal gambling is in favour of illegal gambling, which does not bring any benefit to the country. With the complete opening of the gaming sector, we can create more than 1 million jobs and more than R$ 25 billion (US$4.7 billion) per year in taxes, apart from direct fees for the licenses of the casinos”, explains Ortiz.
Showing much regret for delays in approving broad regulation of gaming in Brazil, Ortiz argues that in addition to speeding up this process, “the country must analyze the tax issue very well. Brazil is mature enough to understand that gaming is good for the country”.
Johnny Ortiz stated in the GMB webinar that: “Brazil is a wonderful country and our greatest wealth is the people. We have an exuberance for tourism and gaming has a high capacity to attract investments, not only from operators, but also from different suppliers”.
According to the ZITRO president in addition to direct investments, the country can gain a lot from tourism. “With the opening of gaming, the flow of tourists would increase substantially. Today, we have about 6 million tourists traveling to Brazil, while France attracts 80 million and Andorra, a small country stuck in the middle of Europe, more than 12 million. With the proper regulation of the gaming sector, we can overcome all these countries”.
During the webinar, Johnny Ortiz said that if gaming is regulated, he would not only return to live in the country but will also establish a unit of his company in Brazil. “Gaming requires manufacturers of so many products, such as furniture, cutlery, TV monitors plus many others, in addition to specific products for gaming itself, which requires specialists. Today, we have 300 engineers in our European unit, which demonstrates our strength as a company that generates jobs. That is why I understand that the regulatory framework must be discussed urgently so that we do not take another four or five years to approve gaming in all its forms. Zitro wants to bring its expertise to Brazil and offer thousands of jobs and generate high taxes,” concluded the ZITRO president.
