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Taylor Swift: Singapore prime minister defends deal to secure exclusive access to Eras tour

Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong confirmed an ‘arrangement’ for Singapore to be the only stop on Swift’s south-east Asia Eras tour

Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong has defended an incentive provided to Taylor Swift by his government, to make the country the only stop in south-east Asia on her world tour, saying it was not a hostile act towards its neighbours. Thailand’s prime minister claimed last month that the concert promoter AEG had informed him that the Singaporean government offered subsidies of US$2m-$3m (£1.6m-£2.4m) a show as part of an exclusivity agreement. Lee did not directly answer when asked if he had encountered “bad blood” among other leaders due to the arrangement and suggested that if Singapore hadn’t struck an exclusive deal, a neighbouring country might have done so.

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