Speech by MOS Alvin Tan at 10th Regional Arboriculture Seminar
Oct 13, 2025
Introduction
Good afternoon to everyone, it’s very nice to be here. And welcome to all our international guests to Singapore.
The last time I was at this venue, i I was speaking about Fintech, and now we’re talking about landscapes. We have a full spectrum of issues in Singapore, but all intertwining and related. We are going to be speaking about how technology is also very much a key enabler in this space that we are speaking about today.
Over the weekend, my NParks colleagues and I were together with the Youth Stewards for Nature. And the reason why I started with this is because stewardship is critical to our plan and our focus on building a city of nature, or rather a City in Nature. A City in Nature is quite a bit of an oxymoron, because you’re both a city and you also want to promote nature.
But then where does this landscape industry fit into our goal of building a City in Nature? Well, over the many years, my NParks colleagues have walked aside and alongside many of you here today to grow and develop this industry, which is critical to our goal of building a City in Nature.
We jointly rolled out the Landscape Sector Transformation Plan in 2019, and the plan was to digitalise, mechanise and professionalise the industry.
Because of the plan, subsequently, NParks partnered companies here today in a digitalisation pilot in Bishan-Ang Mo Kio district, the centre of Singapore. And this led to NParks implementing a new model of greenery management there in 2023, two years ago, which uses digital tools such as the Contractor Fleet Management System, to enhance their field operations.
And in fact, just as we see that across different sectors of the economy, many businesses and companies have digitalised and used technology to maximise their productivity. This is really imperative given Singapore’s very natural constraints – we are small, we have both labour as well as land constraints.
Meanwhile, we also hear your concerns on matters such as uneven standards as well as rising cost.
And critically, how we need to keep our greenery safe for the public and also well-maintained to become a City in Nature.
New Code of Practice for Pruning of Trees in Tropical Urban Landscapes
At the LIAS annual Gala Dinner, that was just in June, I shared that NParks and LIAS would jointly lead a new workgroup to develop national standards for tree management in Singapore.
Given the many parties involved in tree management across Singapore, the levels of expertise and understanding of best arboriculture practices can vary.
These standards are important. They are important because they aim to uplift our industry capabilities to ensure the long-term resilience of our trees.
Now, the first of these standards is the Singapore Standard “Code of Practice for Pruning of Trees in Tropical Urban Landscapes”.
This standard outlines principles, techniques and standards for tree pruning that are aligned with international best practices.
It also is tailored to the unique conditions of urban trees growing in tropical climates such as ours.
On this note, I am pleased to share that the draft standard is now ready and will be open for public consultation next month. So please feel free to share what you think will help to improve these standards, and uplift industry capabilities to manage trees.
And this is not possible without the workgroup who participated in focus group discussions and shared valuable ideas and valuable feedback.
We look forward to receiving input from the wider community when the draft is available on the Singapore Standards eShop website for public consultation for two months from 7 November.
Revised tenancy model for new land plots
Ladies and gentlemen, just as we need resilient trees, we also need a resilient and thriving landscape industry.
And what have we been doing over the years? Well, NParks has implemented pro-enterprise initiatives to support our businesses in the landscape industry. And this includes our landscape and orchid nurseries.
Taking into account industry feedback, we have made several policy adjustments.
In 2018, we introduced new plots with 10+10-year lease tenures. This was in response to demand for longer-term tenure for nurseries, and this recognises recognising different businesses have different needs as well as different requirements.
Then, we also strengthened our engagements with stakeholders through platforms like the biennial Landscape Industry Forum.
In fact, at the most recent Forum that was held just last month, NParks updated the industry on latest developments, and information on what government grants and resources are available to help businesses like you to grow and also to transform.
And these engagements are very important. Because through these engagements, we hear that nurseries typically require substantial upfront investment and face development costs. And it also takes a longer time to complete construction works and become fully operational.
Now with this constructive industry feedback shared by LIAS, I am pleased to announce that we will be enhancing our land tenure arrangements. To better meet our landscape industry’s needs, we will revise the tenure period for land plots for landscape and orchid nurseries from the current 3+3+3-year structure to a 6+3-year tenure model.
Now this is helpful and important feedback for all of you because it will apply to new land plot tenancy tenders launched by NParks, starting November 2025.
Now, this extended first-term tenancy of six years will provide greater business clarity, greater business certainty for landscape and orchid nurseries, and it will allow for all of you to plan for the long term.
Under this revised tenancy model, nursery operators can better plan operational enhancements, such as for example, investing in advanced equipment to boost productivity.
This revised model also simplifies the tenancy renewal process. So instead of two renewal points after the third and sixth-year marks, tenancy renewal will occur only once, after the initial six-year term.
This means rental rates remain fixed for six years, providing operators more certainty of operating costs.
Now if you are a orchid nursery operator, this longer first-term tenure aligns better with the cultivation cycle of orchids, as some new orchid varieties take at least three years between hybridisation and commercial production.
Now this will give more stability for orchid nursery operators to pursue more ambitious orchid breeding programmes and develop unique, new, local varieties.
To complement this revised tenancy model, NParks has lined up several initiatives to provide additional support to nursery operators.
NParks has developed a guidebook on navigating TOP / CSC requirements, which it has shared at last month’s Landscape Industry Forum. And to help nursery operators better understand these requirements, NParks will also organise a briefing this Friday for industry.
In addition, NParks and the Institution of Engineers Singapore are also launching a specialised training course into this. This will help nursery operators better understand the tender processes, including how do you plan submission approvals, as well as key regulatory requirements and also the budget considerations.
From next month, we will also enhance NParks’ tender briefing processes to include site showrounds for prospective bidders. And this is to help them to better understand site conditions and help them to ask what they need to make better decisions on bid pricing.
Conclusion
I wanted to conclude by thanking everyone in our landscape industry for adding your colour and vibrance and life to our city canvas, and also for all of your commitment and support towards our greening efforts.
We hope these announcements will help you to plan smarter, to plan longer, to plan more effectively. I look forward to partnering with all of you to grow our industry together and shape a greener, and more sustainable City in Nature.
Thank you, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of the seminar.