Island representatives were out in force at a recent high-profile event in Israel.
It was the 2014 Global Lottery Messenger Forum.
More than 75 delegates representing 30 Lottery Messenger brands travelled from 16 countries to take part in the conference at the Hilton Hotel, Tel Aviv.
The Lottery Messenger industry enables the global public to participate online in non-local national lotteries.
The industry is currently undergoing significant growth.
The island was well represented.
Leonard Singer, MHK, who is a political member for the Department of Economic Development with responsibility for eBusiness, made an official welcome.
Island presentations included powerful contributions from Peter Greenhill, chief officer, eGaming Development, Nedbank, Continent 8 Technologies, SMP Partners, ILS Fiduciaries and the emerging Lottery Export Association.
It’s not clear today when regulation will kick-in, but what was clear from the Forum was that to complement the Isle of Man’s formal presentations on the value of the IoM and related regulation, the industry itself talked openly about the need for regulation, why it’s needed, and how it will add value.
Stuart Ballan, head of Middle East at Counting House, who recently visited the island and is based in Israel, said: ‘Analogous to Douglas, where no meeting is more than a five minute walk away, Israel is a small country with significant, global business activity focused in very condensed areas.
‘Everyone knows everyone and this event, and the Isle of Man’s participation, is likely to be the ‘‘talk of the town’’ for many months to come.
‘Both Counting House and the Isle of Man can take pride in the knowledge that today’s event will be a catalyst for changing the global Lottery Messenger industry.’
It’s clear that the first Global Lottery Messenger conference will not be the last and the door is already open for the Isle of Man to participate again, in Israel, in 2015.
Mr Ballan added: ‘Both Counting House and the Isle of Man are extremely pro-active.
‘With Counting House having permanent representation on both the island and in Israel, we have a vehicle; a channel, for promoting the Isle of Man’s value in Israel.
‘We did it successfully in December 2013, again in May 2014, and we’ve already identified a number of relevant industries for future conferences in Israel over the next year and beyond.
‘The co-operation of the Isle of Man and Counting House working together is a text book example of ‘one plus one equals three’.
Counting House is involved in international payment processing services.
The conference room was ‘bulging at the seams’ from the opening presentation to the end of the formalities. It was standing room only at 5pm as Paul Davis, managing director of Counting House, drew the winning ball for the first prize of an all expense paid trip to the Isle of Man.
The winner was Rashmi Patel from London.
Counting House facilitates inbound and outbound payments in local currencies through a robust network of worldwide banking facilities, eliminating the need for clients to establish complex international banking relationships of their own.