It was the third international casualty in a week to hit Singapore in the fallout from the United States-led war against terrorism, and dealt a further blow to the city-state's economy which is staring at a severe recession.

Sibos, organised by the Belgium-based industry co-operative Swift, was expected to bring 6000 delegates ranging from bankers and regulators to investment managers and treasury specialists.

News of the cancellation came as Singapore announced its economic growth was rapidly going backwards with a 5.6 percent retraction in the third quarter and a 3.0 percent retraction for the full year.

Swift said in a statement it had no choice but to cancel Sibos "given current global security concerns."

"The fundamental role of Swift and its community is to ensure the security, reliability and continuity of the global financial system," it said, adding the decision did not reflect on any concerns about security in Singapore.

The Champions Tennis Tournament set to start in Singapore on October 25 and featuring several former greats including John McEnroe, Pat Cash and Mats Wilander has also been cancelled.

A third event, a Singapore College of Insurance seminar on security threats facing financial institutions has also been called off with no reason given. It was to have drawn experts from the US and Hong Kong.

The Straits Times reported October 10 there were concerns about two major exhibitions next year, Food Hotel Asia and CommunicAsia.

"We are working with foreign exhibitors on these, but whether they will now pull out is anyone's guess," said Roger Kao, a consultant at event manager Concept Communications.

However the organisers of next week's International Textile Machinery exhibition said they still expected more than 20,000 visitors and none of the 802 exhibitors had pulled out.

Singapore's trade exhibition industry directly employs 1500 people but in terms of spin-offs provides jobs for another 14,000 people.

Year 2000 figures showed exhibitions brought 81,500 visitors, accounted for S$680 million (US$380 million) in foreign exchange, and provided total sales worth S$3.55 billion.

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