Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1467437
7 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 11 MAY 2022 LAURA CALLEJA STAKEHOLDERS have urged Malta to use greylisting as an op- portunity to show that once the island is off the maligned list it is cleaner than other jurisdictions. Speaking during a conference organised by The Malta Chamber celebrating 20 years of iGaming in Malta, iGEN Chairman Enrico Bradamante said that once the FAFT no longer greylists Mal- ta, the country can say that it's cleaner than other jurisdictions and of a higher quality. Head of tax at KPMG Malta Juanita Brockdorff shared the same sentiment that once Malta has moved off the greylist, it can show the international scene that "it's at the top of the game." Malta was greylisted by the Fi- nancial Action Task Force last year following deficiencies in the country's tax enforcement sys- tem, among other things. Malta Chamber President Marisa Xuereb said the iGaming sector now accounts for more than 12% of Malta's GDP. Xuereb said that the gaming industry was a local "economic success story." "We want to work with the in- dustry, and support them and bring them to the head table so that they are represented," she said. Xuereb, however, warned that the gaming industry had shined a light on Malta's increasing prop- erty and rental prices. She said that if Malta was not able to get the property market under con- trol, the gaming industry would undoubtedly be affected. The gaming industry employs a large number of foreigners and sky-rocketing rental prices had raised issues of affordability for employees despite the above av- erage wages paid by the sector. Economy Minister Silvio Schembri said the gaming sector had proved to be resilient during the pandemic. "The sector's resil- ience made it clear that the coun- try should continue to invest in this sector," he said. "If you look on a global scale, the online gaming sector is larger than that of the TV and film industry, and we want online gaming and e-sports to be an important pil- lar of our economy. We are more than capable of creating together another 20 years of success in this sector," Schembri said. Tax challenges Aldo Farrugia, director general of the Commissioner for Reve- nue, said Malta is not at a cross- roads; instead, the country knows where it wants to go; however, it requires fine-tuning. Farrugia made reference to the proposed EU directive to incor- porate the Pillar Two tax rules in- to EU law. Under the global min- imum tax rules, the minimum benchmark would be 15%. It would apply to all multinational groups exceeding a threshold of €750 million of combined finan- cial revenues. He said Malta has managed to negotiate a six-year delay, mean- ing that it would not have to im- plement the directive unit 2029, which he added was beneficial. Speaking on Finance Minister Clyde Caruana's plan to overhaul Malta's corporate tax landscape by 2025, Farrugia said that Mal- ta wants to remain a competi- tive system that supports various sectors, including the iGaming sector, while still honouring the country's international commit- ments. Superbet CFO Christian Edu said that locating the business in Malta over the years has had a lot of competitive advantages. He said that in 2022, Superbet will reach the €750 million threshold and as such has begun to consid- er its options. "There are many things you need to consider, including when and how a jurisdiction will imple- ment these directives, so the fact that Malta has a six-year deroga- tion is something that will influ- ence our final decision." Brockdorff added that tax in- centives continued to be a key to attracting investment in Malta, but tax was not a "dirty" word and needed to be looked at as a cost that needed to be managed just like other costs when run- ning a business. Once off the greylist Malta could show it is 'cleaner' than other jurisdictions, gaming chief says Stakeholders urge Malta to take the opportunity to show Malta is 'cleaner' than other jurisdictions once it's off the greylist PRO-CHOICE doctor Isabel Stabile has been physically assaulted by a woman, Doctors for Choice said on Facebook. Stabile told MaltaToday that she already had a previous altercation with the same woman in Paola, during a similar protest, but it never went past verbal abuse. Stabile said that this time the woman got out of her car and started hurling ver- bal abuse at her before it turned physical. "She then pushed me," the doctor said. Stabile said that she and other activ- ists would not be deterred from protest- ing because of what happened, and they would continue to fight for the right for people to access safe abortion. Stabile is one of the activists who have taken to Malta's roads in recent weeks with pro-choice signs as part of a cam- paign by the NGO. The NGO said that a police report had been filed. "We have asked for the perpe- trator to be prosecuted. Thankfully, Dr Stabile did not sustain any injuries," the NGO said. "We take such incidents extremely seri- ously to protect our activists. From now on, we shall be providing our activists with body cams so they can better record such incidents in the future." The NGO said it has a zero tolerance to for violent behaviour and will report all such incidents to the police and request criminal prosecution. Woman who assaulted pro- choice activist had verbally abused campaigners in separate incident