Pronet Gaming’s CEO mentioned in a conversation yesterday that he is very bullish on the Philippine market as the country offers the best opportunities and talent pool for its Asian expansion. Alex Leese said the group is actively recruiting talent in the region and aims to use the ASEAN Gaming Summit as a springboard for its regional efforts, taking advantage of the unique event’s panel discussions and networking opportunities.

Alex Leese said in the conversation that in terms of the type of business that Pronet Gaming will do in the Philippines, it will be more of a business process outsourcing type of arrangement, with the slight exception that we will also have a transaction risk management team there. So, that means we are now applying for special category BPO certification. In fact, this was one of the main factors in our decision to locate ourselves in the Philippines: to support business operations for the Asian market. And it already has a pre-existing and robust infrastructure. But we also like some of the latest changes brought about by PAGCOR’s new president, Al Tengco.

Regarding the recent news about 188BET entering the Philippines, I think this is a real support for the PAGCOR licensing system. Therefore, there are many benefits to being stationed in the Philippines.

About talents

Alex Leese believes that after looking at the Asian market and various jurisdictions, we believe that the Philippines can provide a broad enough talent pool to be able to effectively recruit all the disciplines that we need, whether it is support staff, or IT operations, traders, Risk management, as well as some commercial and account management roles. So, all in all, it's a one-stop shop for us and we're very excited to be opening there in the coming months.

About industry talents

At the ASEAN Gaming Summit on March 19th, we will soon have a lot of people gathering at our own event and we find that it is more of a web-based show.

We found that the interaction with the panels was also really good, we didn't just want people to stand on stage and speak to an audience. Gaming is a passionate industry and everyone has their own perspective and way of doing things. That’s the real beauty of a show like this. This is what I found great last time. So, I'm obviously interested to see if that persists. I myself will also be taking part in some panel discussions during the event, which is always a great opportunity to reconnect with some familiar faces. But also meeting some new people, whether that provides an opportunity to attract people to come work with us, or whether they're future clients or just friends in the industry. That's the kind of game it is.

It does feel like there's been a general recovery in Asian markets now. This coincides with some of the regulatory moves we've seen in the Philippines, like their changes, and rumors of possible regulatory moves in countries like Thailand and Vietnam, and now is really the right time for everyone to come back.

From a Pronet Gaming perspective, this event is essentially about helping us build our brand presence in the Asia region. It's an opportunity to leverage some of the panels, but also to leverage the [exhibitor] space to have a more regular and consistent presence, not just within the ASEAN Gaming Summit itself, but within the wider media inventory of the Asia Gaming Briefing.

As for why others should actually attend events, I imagine there are a lot of simultaneous events going on right now. It really depends on which senior executives and industry movers and shakers will choose. I think, as I said before, the Philippines is now more open to gaming and leading the region as a whole, and I think that represents a great opportunity for everyone to come together.

Finally, Alex Leese said that from March 19th to 21st, we will host the ASEAN Gaming Summit at Shangri-La Castle, and we will be very interested in communicating together again.