Update on Progress and Completion of Review of Formula 1 Contracts

Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry (a) whether the Ministry can provide an update on the progress of the review of the Formula 1 contracts as committed by the Government in February 2024; and (b) what is the expected timeline for its completion.

I issued a Ministerial Direction in 2024 for the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to convene an independent Review Committee to review the terms of its current contract with Singapore GP Pte Ltd (SGP) for the Singapore Grand Prix 2022 to 2028, also known as the Term 4 Facilitation Agreement.

The Review Committee has completed its work and submitted its report to me and Minister Grace Fu as the Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations and overseeing tourism. The Review Committee was satisfied that the Government's interests were sufficiently safeguarded and that the terms of the deal constituted a fair and reasonable exchange of commercial obligations and benefits between the Government and SGP. The economic benefits that accrued to Singapore outweighed the costs, and the foreign visitorship and incremental tourism receipts that Singapore received from hosting Formula 1 (F1) exceeded targets. The Review Committee assessed that the Singapore Grand Prix continued to grow in relevance and importance to Singapore, and hosting the F1 race continued to elevate Singapore's international branding. The races in Term 4 have thus far performed well.

The Review Committee also assessed that the Government was diligent, rigorous and careful in approaching the F1 project, and no irregularities were observed. For instance, the Government appointed external legal counsel to vet the Facilitation Agreement to ensure that the Government's interests were sufficiently protected.

Notwithstanding this, the Review Committee identified ways to enhance the existing processes between STB and SGP to further safeguard the Government's interests, and areas of improvement for any future renewal of the F1 project.

Members will understand that the report of the Review Committee will not be published due to business confidentiality.