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SINGAPORE will host the Formula One
Grand Prix from next year for five years.
Announcing the event early last
month, Minister of State for Trade and Industry S Iswaran said
the cost could be up to $150 million.
Race promoter and property
tycoon Ong Beng Seng, the Singapore Tourism Board and the hotels
in the vicinity of the proposed route are expected to foot the
bill.
Mr Ong's newly-registered
company, Singapore GP Pte Ltd, secured the rights from the
Formula One Group after 12 months of negotiations.
The first race will be held in
September or early October and it will take place at night - an
F1 first - if all safety requirements are met.
The 5.2km street circuit will go
past the Singapore Flyer ferris wheel, the Esplanade, Fullerton
Hotel and the Padang before turning onto Raffles Boulevard and
looping back by Republic Boulevard.
The event is expected to give
the tourism industry a major boost, generating incremental
tourism receipts of $100 million a year.
Mr Ong, 60, was motivated by
personal interest to bring F1 here as well as his love of
sports.
He had proposed an F1 track in
1989, but it was turned down by the Government.
Meanwhile,US banking giant
Citigroup expects big spin-offs for the economy at large,
reports said.
For one, the race exposes the
'Singapore brand' to the world as F1 is the third most-watched
sporting event after the Olympics and the Fifa World Cup.
F1 is watched on average 58
billion times a season through television broadcasts to over 200
countries. |
