The Ministry of Finance is scheduled to sit down with four banks interested in issuing sports lottery tickets on Wednesday in preparation for the launch of the nation's second large-scale lotto game next year, bank officials confirmed yesterday.
"Although we have yet to receive the ministry's formal notice, I have been informed that the ministry will convene a meeting on Wednesday to announce the requests for proposals formulated by the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports," Taiwan Lottery Co (台灣彩券) chairman Oliver Shang (尚瑞強) said yesterday.
Taiwan Lottery, a fully owned subsidiary of Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控), was entrusted by Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商銀) to issue Public Welfare Lottery tickets beginning this year, after Taipei Fubon Bank's (台北富邦銀行) five year contract expired last December.
Chinatrust and Taipei Fubon have expressed strong interest in winning the nation's first sports lottery issuing license.
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The government's selection criteria for the sports lottery manager will be promulgated next month and the bidding will be held in late August, with operations set to commence in the first half of next year.
Unlike the Public Welfare Lottery bidding, which awards the contract to the institution that offers the highest financial contribution to the government, the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports will choose the sports lotto issuer based on operational and management capabilities.
The selection standards have been warmly received by Shang and Richard Yang (楊瑞東), vice president of Taipei Fubon Bank, who said sports lottery is a much more complex game and requires experienced operators to guarantee fairness and efficiency.
Taipei Fubon Bank last week announced it would team up with GTECH Corp, the US' largest lottery operator, to tender for the sports lotto license.
Chinatrust Commercial Bank will continue to work with its partner, the Athens-based Intralot SA, which Shang said controls more than 80 percent of the world's sports lottery market, for its bid.
Intralot global executive director Loannis Katakis was scheduled to arrive in Taiwan late last night -- his second visit this month -- to help in Chinatrust Commercial Bank's bid.
Despite a string of computer malfunctions and mismanagement since Taiwan Lottery started offering lotto tickets this year, Shang said they have made stabilizing the system a priority and would make all-out attempts to win the sports lotto tender.
Having the same institution issuing both public welfare and sports lotteries would benefit vendors and consumers most, he said.
GTECH and Shang estimated the size of the nation's sports lotto market could reach NT$20 billion (US$600 million) per annum, higher than the government's figure of NT$5 billion.
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