Local Landscape Companies Stand to Benefit from $3.9 million Productivity Grant to Purchase New Equipment

Singapore, 20 September 2013 - The National Parks Board has launched a $3.9 million Landscape Productivity Grant today to help local landscape companies defray the cost of purchasing equipment. Available from now till March 2016, the Grant was launched during the visit by Mr Desmond Lee, Minister of State for National Development, to Prince’s Landscape & Construction Pte Ltd, a local landscape company. Prince’s is the first recipient of the Grant, an initiative under the $12 million Landscape Productivity Roadmap.

Landscape Productivity Grant

The Grant will be disbursed to eligible companies which purchase new equipment for projects such as landscape design, construction and maintenance. Each company will receive up to 50% funding or a maximum of $100,000.

Prince’s will be using the Grant to acquire a tractor equipped with a hedge trimmer. The tractor is expected to reduce the time taken to trim hedges by 75%. Mr Alson Tan, Director of Prince’s, said, “Over the years, Prince's has been a firm believer in enhancing productivity through mechanisation. At the same time, we develop the skills of our employees to operate all the new equipment. With the latest machines and a skilled workforce, we believe that our company will progress. NParks’ Landscape Productivity Grant will help us achieve this goal.

Mr Desmond Lee is confident that the grant will benefit many of our local landscape companies. “The landscape industry has traditionally relied heavily on manual processes and on foreign manpower. Since the Landscape Industry Productivity Roadmap was endorsed in 2010, many landscape companies have started to mechanise and adopt technology. This has made them more efficient. The Landscape Productivity Grant that we are launching today will help our landscape companies defray the cost of purchasing equipment that will improve their work processes and make their workers more productive. Companies such as Prince’s Landscape & Construction Pte Ltd are leading the way. I encourage other landscape companies to consider applying for this grant.

Companies which are keen to apply for the Grant can write to askcuge@cuge.com.sg. More information on the Grant can also be found in Annex A.

Landscape Productivity Roadmap

Developed in collaboration with the landscape industry, the $12 million Landscape Productivity Roadmap is a national effort to enhance productivity, raise capabilities and professionalism, as well as restructure operations in the landscape sector over a five-year period (2011 – 2016). More information on the Roadmap can be found in Annex B.