InterGaming reports back from Buenos Aires
ALTHOUGH some of the large manufacturers in the land-based casino sector chose not to exhibit at SAGSE as Argentina’s import restrictions remain in place, those companies present at this year’s show remained optimistic about South America. Brazilian card manufacturer Copag had slimmed down the selection of cards it brought to this year’s show in Argentina as a result of the importation issues, but said the event was still proving worthwhile.
Speaking on the first day of SAGSE, Rafael Lisboa, international key account manager at Copag, said: “Actually so far the show has been great for us. We have met some of our customers from Argentina and others from Uruguay and Paraguay, so it is proving to be a good meeting point for all our clients from the south part of South America.
“We are showing our 100 per cent plastic cards and our coated paper cards. We couldn’t bring so many samples because of the import problems but we have brought our best cards.”
Despite the tricky nature of importing to Argentina, Lisboa remained positive about the region as well as change within Argentina. He explained that Copag has produced casino cards for Casino Rosario in Argentina, which has managed to gain the necessary permissions to import from the Argentine government.
“We believe two more casinos in Argentina will get these permissions,” Lisboa said. Although Copag has more than 80 per cent of the market share in Argentina, Lisboa stressed that Argentina is only one of the countries that Copag works in. “Of course some markets such as Venezuela and Ecuador have closed, but we believe there is very good potential in South America. The European market is flat, as is the American market, and we think the future could be the African and South American markets,” Lisboa said.
Returning SAGSE exhibitor Euro Games Technology was showcasing its Stork Multiplayer Terminal, its Egypt Quest progressive jackpot and its Premier P-24/24 Up cabinet
Speaking on the first day of SAGSE, Stanislav Stanev, director of sales and marketing at EGT, said the show had been busy but that import issues had adversely affected the number of exhibitors.
Although many large manufacturers were present this year, some big names within the industry, including Novomatic, TCS John Huxley and Ainsworth Game Technology were not exhibiting this year.
Yet despite concerns about the size of the show this year, Stanev remained optimistic about the situation in Argentina moving forward.
“Progress hasn’t advanced much in Argentina because of the import ban but I strongly believe that next year it will be easier to import machines into the market,” he said.
Read the full article in the December issue of InterGaming
