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FILE - In this July 10, 2019 file photograph, singer Taylor Swift performs at Amazon Music's Prime Day concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. Powered by big stadium tours from artists like Swift and Beyoncé, ticket sales are booming and it appears likely that live acts will continue to draw massive crowds after the pandemic closed down concert venues globally for close to two years. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Singapore prime minister defends exclusive deal with Taylor Swift that riles some neighbors

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has defended an exclusive deal his city-state struck with Taylor Swift that prevents the pop star taking her current Eras Tour to anywhere else in Southeast Asia

By ROD McGUIRK
Published - Mar 04, 2024, 10:15 PM ET
Last Updated - Mar 04, 2024, 10:15 PM EST

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday defended an exclusive deal his city-state struck with Taylor Swift that prevents the pop star taking her current Eras Tour to anywhere else in Southeast Asia.

Swift is performing six concerts from March 2 to 9 in Singapore under an exclusive deal that has been criticized by some Southeast Asian neighbors who complain they have been deprived of the tourist boom that her concerts have brought elsewhere.

Lee confirmed that Swift was provided with “certain incentives” from a government fund established to rebuild tourism industry after COVID-19 disruptions to make Singapore her only Southeast Asian destination. He did not say how much the deal cost.

He said he did not regard the deal as unfriendly toward his neighbors in the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

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