Smoky Singapore gears up to talk money ahead of F1

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)