Smoky Singapore gears up to talk money ahead of F1

SINGAPORE - 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 a night for a room that typically costs US$1,460 (S$1,900).

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 (Oct 5) 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 US$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.

新加坡——在雾霾持续笼罩着这座城市国家之际，区域、商业、加密货币和体育界的领袖们齐聚新加坡，参加一系列以金融为主题的会议，为本周末的F1大奖赛做准备。

菲律宾总统小费迪南德·马科斯、著名投资人雷·达里奥和家族支持的加密货币企业联合创始人埃里克·特朗普预计将出席，同时数十万一级方程式赛车迷也将涌入该岛。

夜间穿越城市街道的比赛以及大约 40 项周边活动通常是新加坡在全球的一次展示，酒店房间价格也随之飙升。

位于赛马场旁的富丽敦湾酒店，一间通常售价为 1460 美元（1900 新元）的房间，每晚收费 5030 新元。

今年，印尼十多年来最严重的山火带来的阴霾很可能成为比赛的背景之一。新加坡环境局预测，周一（10月5日）新加坡的空气质量将处于“中度至低度不健康”的水平。该机构没有提供周日大奖赛的长期空气质量预报。

新加坡旅游局表示，尽管经济和地缘政治形势不明朗，但F1及其相关活动仍保持着“强劲的发展势头”，反映出人们的信心。

金融市场的动荡不安，债券价格暴跌，人们对人工智能的情绪也从狂热转为谨慎，这些都将吸引投资者和企业高管参加从周三开始的福布斯CEO大会和米尔肯亚洲峰会。

特朗普是加密货币风险投资公司 World Liberty Financial 的联合创始人，他将在 TOKEN2049 加密货币活动上发表讲话。在经历了艰难的 12 个月后，数字资产市场仍然脆弱。

上个月，一项备受期待的监管框架未能获得美国参议院的通过，部分原因是唐纳德·特朗普总统的个人加密货币交易成为民主党人的攻击焦点。

尽管近期有所反弹，但据数据聚合商 CoinGecko 的数据显示，过去 12 个月里，加密货币市场的总价值下降了约四分之一，至 3 万亿美元。

尽管如此，主办方表示，此次活动门票已接近售罄，预计将有25000名与会者，与去年持平。《海峡时报》报道称，届时将有约9万名企业高管齐聚新加坡。

据官方估计，F1每年为新加坡带来约1.45亿新元的额外旅游收入。马来亚银行经济学家蔡学斌预计，今年这一数字将达到1.6亿新元，此外，赛事期间达成的交易还将带来“更广泛的经济效益”。