The city-state's culture minister said the grant given to the pop icon was “not as large as speculated.”
Singapore has downplayed the amount of subsidy it paid to Taylor Swift after the city-state's efforts to attract the singer led to complaints from neighbors.
Singapore's Culture Minister Edwin Tong said on Monday that speculation about the size of the grant was “not accurate”.
“It is not accurate and I can say that it is not as expensive as speculation, but due to trade secrets, I cannot reveal the specific size or terms of the subsidy,” Tong told parliament in response to a question from a lawmaker. .
Tong also said the government believes the economic benefits of hosting Swift's six concerts in the city will be “significant and outweigh the size of the subsidy.”
Tong's comments come after Thai Prime Minister Sureta Thabisin told a business forum last month that Singapore paid Swift between $2 million and $3 million on the condition that she not perform in other countries in Southeast Asia. Ta.
“If I had known this, I would have taken the show to Thailand,” Thretta was quoted as saying by the Bangkok Post. “Concerts can create added value to the economy.”
Philippine Rep. Joey Salceda last week called on Manila to come down hard on Singapore over the reported subsidies, saying such actions were “not the behavior of a good neighbor.”
Singaporean authorities previously admitted they were offering Swift a subsidy to come to the city-state, without disclosing terms, saying it would benefit tourism-related sectors such as accommodation, retail and food and beverage. was.
Singapore's Channel News Asia reported that hotels and airlines saw demand for flights and accommodation surge by up to 30% around the concert dates.
Aside from four shows in Japan last month, the concert in Singapore will be Swift's only performance in Asia as part of her The Eras tour.
The sold-out show, which runs until March 9, is attended by around 300,000 fans, including fans from neighboring countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
Swift, one of the most successful music artists of all time with 14 Grammy Awards and hundreds of millions of albums sold worldwide, will perform her first Singapore concert on Saturday after wrapping up her Australian tour last week with a performance. went. In front of 81,000 fans at Sydney's Accor Stadium.
