Smoky Singapore gears up to talk money ahead of F1

By Reuters News

SINGAPORE, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Regional, business, cryptocurrency and sports leaders are meeting in Singapore for a slew of finance-focused conferences ahead of this weekend's Grand Prix as haze continues to shroud the city-state.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, famed investor Ray Dalio and Eric Trump, co-founder of the family-backed cryptocurrency business, are expected, while hundreds of thousands of Formula 1 fans will converge on the island.

The night race through the city streets and some 40 sideline events are typically a global showcase for Singapore and hotel room rates have soared.

The Fullerton Bay Hotel next to the race track is charging S$5,030 ($3,933) a night for a room that typically costs $1,460.

This year the pall from Indonesia's most intense fires in more than a decade will probably form part of the backdrop. Air quality was forecast at the "high moderate to low unhealthy" range on Monday by Singapore's environment agency. No longer-range forecast was provided for Sunday's Grand Prix.

Singapore's tourism board said F1 and its surrounding events had "strong momentum" reflecting confidence despite economic and geopolitical uncertainty.

Jitters in financial markets where bond prices are slumping and sentiment around on AI is shifting from euphoric to cautious will occupy investors and business chiefs at the Forbes CEO Conference and Milken Asia Summit, which runs from Wednesday.

Trump, a co-founder of crypto venture World Liberty Financial, is due to speak at the TOKEN2049 cryptocurrency event with digital asset markets fragile following a bruising 12 months.

A hoped-for regulatory framework failed last month to clear the US Senate, in part as President Donald Trump's personal crypto dealings ​became a flashpoint for Democrats.

Despite a recent bounce, the total value of the cryptocurrency market is down about a quarter over the last 12 months to $3 trillion, according to data aggregator CoinGecko.

Still, organisers say their event is nearly sold out with 25,000 attendees expected, the same as last year. The Straits Times reported that about 90,000 "c-suite," or top ranking, executives will be in town.

F1 generates around S$145 million in incremental tourism receipts for Singapore each year, according to official estimates. Maybank economist Chua Hak Bin expects it to hit S$160 million this year, along with "wider economic benefits" from deals struck at sideline events.

($1 = 1.2794 Singapore dollars)

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