Evert Montero Cardenas, president of Colombian trade body Fecoljuegos, opened this week’s Juegos Miami with an enthralling speech to delegates in attendance at the event.

Cardenas addressed those in attendance at the opening address, giving a brief update on the current state of play for Colombian market, emphasising the importance of nurturing tourism in the region.

Cardenas' speech followed up his pre-show statement that saw him describe ‘2017 as a year of significant growth for the gaming industry in Latin America’. He also outlined that: “With the regulation of online gaming in Colombia in late 2016, and the hard work that regional regulators across the board are doing to create safe, business-friendly markets, the next few years will undoubtedly be definitive in the development of the industry.”

He also emphasised the role that gaming can play in aiding the growth of the Colombian economy, highlighting that current revenues from gaming were circa $2.5bn, with $523m of that ending up with the treasury. Many families depend indirectly on the revenue coming from the gaming sector he said; it has a major social impact and that has to be communicated in a stronger way.

He also detailed that a key factor in the gaming market continuing to play a pivotal role in Colombia’s economy, is the country’s gaming market maintaining of its strong trustworthy reputation.

Totally Gaming says: Cardenas following up an insightful statement with an opening speech was the perfect way to kick off Juegos. The Colombian economy is currently going through a period of relative turbulence, as Cardena emphasised in his speech, the role that gaming could play in bolstering the economy in the region.