PASA, with years of experience in the industry, maintains an objective perspective to explain the current situation and legal discussions of the gambling industry in Taiwan.
Firstly, the gaming industry is an important entertainment provider, which also involves the gambling sector. This description is used because gambling includes casinos, gaming, and betting industries.
In Taiwan, the gambling industry is illegal, but the gaming industry is legal and has gradually become one of the main drivers of economic development. Gambling activities can only be conducted in legal gambling venues abroad.
The Taiwanese government strictly regulates the gambling industry, mainly because it believes that gambling has adverse effects on social stability and economic prosperity, leading to issues like gambling addiction, financial losses, and crime.
Conversely, the gaming industry is considered one of the main growth engines for Taiwan's economy. Prominent gaming companies include Garena, Soft-World, and Yinghua, which have made significant contributions to the industry. Their success has not only generated billions in revenue but also created numerous job opportunities in Taiwan.
Overall, the Taiwanese government exercises strict legal control over the gambling industry but adopts an open attitude towards the gaming industry, reflecting the government's different attitudes towards various types of industries.
Despite this, many online gambling advertisements for casinos can still be seen in Taiwan. Illegal gambling activities in Taiwan refer to cases where gambling occurs illegally within the region.
According to Taiwanese law, unofficial gambling is illegal. However, some underground gambling organizations still engage in gambling activities through various means, such as online gambling, casinos, poker games, and lotteries. These illegal gambling activities involve not only gamblers and gambling organizations but may also be linked to organized crime, money laundering, and other criminal activities.
To combat these illegal gambling activities, Taiwanese authorities have implemented strict measures, such as enhanced regulation, increased enforcement, fines, and sentencing.
In Asia, more than 10 countries/regions have conditionally opened up/legalized gambling, making it the largest gambling market globally.
These can be broadly divided into two categories: 1. Land-based casinos: Many adopt the Integrated Resort model similar to Singapore, which includes tourist casinos attached to complexes with hotels, shopping malls, convention centers, theaters, etc. Taiwan's Offshore Island Development Act Article 10-2 also adopts this model. 2. Sports betting/online gambling: An emerging field, with countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Macau, and Vietnam having legalized sports betting; the Philippines and others have legalized offshore online gaming.
Internationally, it can be broadly divided into:
1. Land-based casinos: Since Singapore opened up gambling with the IR model in 2006, Asian countries have increasingly used gambling to promote tourism and economic development. The most notable recent development is Japan's decision to open up gambling in 2017 to coincide with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, planning to open three casinos and attracting bids from top international gambling operators, with each investment potentially reaching billions of dollars.
2. Remote gambling: In addition to developing land-based casinos, countries like the Philippines and Cambodia have legalized remote online gambling to compete in this lucrative market.
In Taiwan:
1. Land-based casinos: Taiwan amended the Offshore Island Development Act Article 10-2 in 2008, allowing islands that pass a referendum to set up tourist casinos in the Integrated Resort model. Since 2010, the Ministry of Transportation has been commissioned to draft the "International Tourist Resort with Tourist Casino Management Regulations," but due to lack of social consensus and island referendums, the legislation has not yet passed.
2. Remote gambling: Following the opening of remote online gambling in countries/regions like the Isle of Man, the Philippines, and Malta, reports indicate that over 30,000 young people in Taiwan have entered the online gambling industry, and Taiwan already has a considerable number of offshore online gambling support service industries.
Today, the global gambling growth situation is as follows: 1. The global gambling industry has continued to grow, nearly 2.5 times from 2001 to 2018. 2. The global online gambling industry's market value is estimated to reach $55.79 billion in 2019 (about 10% of the total gambling industry's market value). 3. Asia has become the largest gambling market globally, with its scale growing annually.
The legality of these related online gambling support service industries in Taiwan remains a topic of discussion, and how these peripheral service industries, such as customer service companies, technology companies, and risk management companies, operate and comply with Taiwanese law will be shared with industry participants in several phases in the future.
