Congressman and President of the Brazilian Tourism Commission, João Bacelar, and the President of the Brazilian Institute of Legal Gambling (IJL), Magnho José, have presented the draft of the Gambling Regulatory Framework to the Special Secretariat of the Investment Partnerships Program (PPI) of the Ministry of Economy. If approved, the project would contribute to the tourism industry.
While the state entity is evaluating the different gambling options, including a proposal to exclusively regulate casino resorts in tourist destinations, the experts aim to accelerate the process that would make the instant lottery, Lotex, come into force, in addition to sports betting and other modalities.
The hearing, which took place last week, was attended by Special Undersecretary Bruno Westin Prado Soares Leal, the Head of the Special Advisory to Support Investors and New Projects Rodrigo Toledo Cabral Cota, and the Special Advisor Renata Freire Martins.
As highlighted by BNL Data, a local outlet managed by Magnho José, the Special Secretariat is also coordinating with the Interministerial Committee to attract private investments to the tourism sector to develop integrated resorts.
Bacelar stressed that “the creation of the Gambling Regulatory Framework will benefit not only the government but also Brazilians who will be safer when betting online and in person.”
In addition, he assured that the industry could contribute with 20bn reais in annual taxes. At the same time, “450,000 jobs could be formalised, generating more than 200,000 direct jobs and 600,000 indirect ones,” he explained.
“Legalisation would also bring in investments to the Brazilian market, due to the enormous potential of this activity that currently operates outside of the scope of the law.”
Echoing the argument, Magnho José said that “with the legalisation of all these activities that are currently operational, such as jogo do bicho, bingo games, video slots and online gaming, the country has the potential to move around 74m reais annually.”
“The estimations don’t include casinos, since the revenue collected by these establishments depend on the framework and the number of facilities, which will be defined by the National Congress,” he added.
The proposal that creates the Gambling Regulatory Framework (PL 442/91) is now ready to be analyzed by the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, but despite the high relevance for the country, the measure still faces many discussions.