According to Finance Minister Errol Cort of Antigua, his country will continue developing its Internet gambling industry despite pressure from the United States to prohibit the practice.

Cort, speaking in his parliament last week, claimed that at least 10 new online gambling companies will open on the Caribbean island in 2006, joining 14 that already have been granted operating licenses. The new companies will generate some 500 new jobs and more than $2 million in gambling licenses fees.

The statements ignore the laws of the vast majority of countries around the world, who have banned gambling from unauthorized, foreign operators.