An investigation has added to previous reports suggesting operators have relocated to Colombo\u2019s Port City Special Economic Zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Sri Lanka.- Another report has backed suggestions that former Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) and their workers are moving to Sri Lanka<\/strong> following the Philippines\u2019 ban on the sector. An investigation by MonetaBrief published by local news outlet The Island says thousands of workers from China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia have moved to Sri Lanka<\/strong>, while some former POGO-linked operators have established activities in Colombo\u2019s Port City<\/strong> or through local business process outsourcing (BPO) companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recruitment campaigns reportedly offer salaries of between US$1,200 and US$2,000 per month for positions including marketing, customer service, SEO and administration, alongside accommodation and other benefits.The investigation suggested the operators are targeting Vietnam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development comes as Sri Lanka prepares to implement its new gambling regulatory framework<\/a>. Deputy Minister for Digital Economy Eranga Weeraratne<\/strong> said the planned rules will apply across the country, including Port City. Sri Lankan authorities have stepped up enforcement<\/a> against operations linked to online gaming and cybercrime, with more than 1,000 foreign nationals already arrested in raids during 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An investigation has added to previous reports suggesting operators have relocated to Colombo\u2019s Port City Special Economic Zone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777033949,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Reports indicate a significant migration of former Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) and their workforce to Sri Lanka, particularly Colombo's Port City Special Economic Zone, following the Philippines' ban. This relocation coincides with Sri Lanka's impending implementation of a new gambling regulatory framework, which authorities confirm will apply nationwide, including within Port City.","focusai_entities":"MonetaBrief, The Island, Eranga Weeraratne, Philippine offshore gaming operators","focusai_location":"Sri Lanka, Colombo, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, China","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.95), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.85), payments_fraud_aml (0.8), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.75), journalist_researcher (0.95), marketing_crm (0.7)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Sri Lanka Regulatory Impact","query":"What specific provisions within Sri Lanka's new gambling regulatory framework are designed to mitigate the historical compliance risks associated with former POGO operations, particularly concerning AML and responsible gambling?"},{"label":"POGO Migration Economic Effect","query":"Beyond the immediate operational relocation, what are the projected long-term economic and social impacts for Sri Lanka, specifically within the Port City SEZ, from this influx of iGaming operators and their workforce?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,16334],"tags":[15789,25378,24799],"class_list":["post-777045947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-south-asia-news","tag-pogos","tag-port-city","tag-sri-lanka"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777045947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777045947"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777045947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777045965,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777045947\/revisions\/777045965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777033949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777045947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777045947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777045947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}