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Singapore’s prime minister has defended a deal to secure pop star Taylor Swift’s only performances this year in Southeast Asia, dismissing growing outrage from the city-state’s neighbors.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong confirmed on Tuesday that Singapore had negotiated for the city-state to be the singer’s only stop in the region of 700 million, but denied that such an agreement was “hostile” to the city-state’s neighbours.
“It turned out to be a very successful deal. I don’t consider it hostile,” Lee said Tuesday in Australia, where he was attending a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
“If we hadn’t made an agreement like that, would she have come from somewhere else in Southeast Asia or multiple places in Southeast Asia? Maybe, maybe not,” she added, without revealing the terms of the deal.
Swift’s successful Eras tour has provided an economic boost to destinations around the world, with her fans driving a surge in spending.
More than 300,000 tickets have been sold for his six sold-out concerts in Singapore, which conclude this week. Many of the participants come from abroad. Hotel and airline ticket prices rose by double digits in the city-state as early as a year ago.
But the announcement of the Asia-Pacific tour dates last year fueled widespread disappointment across Southeast Asia, after Swift revealed she would only stop in Singapore, Japan and Australia.
Thailand’s prime minister said last month that Singapore had offered the singer subsidies of up to $3 million per show on the condition that she did not perform elsewhere in the region. Srettha Thavisin said he was informed of the deal by promoter Anschutz Entertainment Group.
Singapore’s culture ministry and tourism board said in a joint statement last month that they had worked directly with AEG to book Swift.
Singapore Culture Minister Edwin Tong told the city-state’s parliament on Monday that speculation about the size of the grant to Swift was “not accurate and was not as high as speculated.”
“Due to corporate confidentiality, we cannot disclose the size and specific terms of the grant,” he added.
Representatives for Swift did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prime Minister Lee said such deals helped expand the economy and attract “goodwill and visitors” from the region.
In the Philippines, lawmaker Joey Salceda said in a statement last week that an exclusivity agreement “is not what good neighbors do” and “is contrary to the principle of relations based on consensus and solidarity on which the ‘ASEAN”. Salceda added that he had asked the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs to formally protest the deal.
Hong Kong has also expressed disappointment at being overlooked in favor of its rival financial centre, with the Chinese territory’s government saying that most entertainment events “operate on commercial principles without government involvement”.
Swift’s performance was “a boost to Singapore’s status,” said Nirgunan Tiruchelvam, an analyst at Aletheia Capital. “Investors in Singapore’s hospitality and tourism sector will welcome this.”
He added that Singapore was a “no-brainer” for artists due to “superior logistics and connectivity”, but said “Asean as a whole benefits” from the tour.
Tong, Singapore’s culture minister, warned on Monday that the government could take action against people who violated the confidentiality clause in Swift’s contract.
The government will evaluate the terms of the contract and take “appropriate measures following advice”, he said.