Courtesy: Pinoy Penman
HOUSE Ways and Means Chair Joey Sarte Salceda (Albay, 2nd district) said that Singapore officially admits it did negotiate an exclusivity deal to lock other ASEAN neighbors out of the tour.
“No doubt that it was very successful for Singapore. Judging by the Singaporean Prime Minister’s words, the weak must do what it can, but the strong can do what it wants. That’s the law of the jungle. That is not the law of a neighborhood of countries bound by supposed principles of solidarity and consensus,” Salceda said in a statement.
Earlier, Salceda requested the Department of Foreign Affairs to send a note verbale to the Singaporean Embassy to request an explanation for the alleged exclusivity terms in the grant given by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) to AEG Presents, the production company that presented the concert of international pop star Taylor Swift.
Salceda said that the alleged terms, which supposedly prevented AEG from bringing the concert in other Southeast Asian countries, if true, “isn’t what good neighbors do.”
“Some 3 million USD in grants were allegedly given by the Singapore government to AEG to host the concert in Singapore. The catch was that they do not host it elsewhere in the region,” Salceda said.
The allegation was made public by Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who said that the grant was offered on the condition that there be no other stops in the Southeast Asian leg of Swift’s concert tour.
“I give it to them that the policy worked. Regional demand for Singaporean hotels and airlines was up 30 percent over the period. I estimate that the exclusivity term caused an increase in industry revenues by USD 60 million. So, the grant produced 30 times more in economic activity.”
“But it was at the expense of neighboring countries, which could not attract their own foreign concert goers, and whose fans had to go to Singapore.”
“I doubt the exclusivity terms were on the grant contract itself,” Salceda said.
