Asia Pacific Conference boosted by NEC advances in Singapore

This month’s NEC Asia Pacific Conference in Hong Kong has been boosted by further recent NEC developments in Singapore, including new collaborative contracting classes jointly run by NEC and the BCA Academy.

Conference highlights

The full agenda for the conference, which will take place on Thursday 27 November 2025 at the Cordis Hotel in Hong Kong, is now available on the NEC website. This annual gathering will bring together industry leaders, government representatives and practitioners from across the region to exchange insights on the latest developments in collaborative contracting and project delivery.

This year’s event will spotlight milestone progress and initiatives for NEC in the region. One of the highlights in this year’s programme is the Outstanding NEC Team Performance Award presentations, introduced for the first time in collaboration with the Hong Kong Development Bureau.

The new awards recognise exceptional achievement in NEC projects. They will be presented in two categories, Excellence in Partnership, celebrating strong collaboration and relationship management across project teams, and Excellence in Innovation and Technology Adoption, recognising outstanding application of new technologies and innovative practices.

The presentations underscore the shared commitment of NEC and the Development Bureau to fostering best practice and advancing the industry through partnership and innovation. We look forward to welcoming participants from across the Asia Pacific region for an engaging day of knowledge-sharing, networking and celebration of excellence in NEC project delivery.

Singapore developments

NEC was officially launched in Singapore in August 2025. This exciting expansion of NEC into another market entails significant opportunities for NEC practitioners in Hong Kong and the wider Asia Pacific region.

The event focused on the official launch of the NEC training and accreditation programme in Singapore with key opinion leaders. Around 140 senior officials attended from the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), including chief executive officer Kelvin Wong, plus trialling agencies, other interested government agencies, key industry associations, consultancies, contractors and academia.

British High Commissioner Nikesh Mehta opened the event saying NEC would play a key role in the UK’s Strategic Partnership, Digital Economy Agreement and Green Economy Framework with Singapore, helping to advance digitalisation and sustainability goals in the built environment sector.

Teck Thai Heng, BCA deputy chief executive officer, followed with a visionary message on how Singapore’s construction industry needs to transform its project delivery approaches, with NEC helping to create an environment where collaboration and value creation are valued.

Collaborative contracting course

Heng also announced a partnership between the BCA Academy and NEC to support in collaborative contracting. The first four-day course, entitled Certification Course on Collaborative Contracting (Construction), was held at the BCA Academy at the end of October 2025 and the second is taking place in the first week of November.

Also in August, NEC Users’ Group secretary Robert Gerrard gave a presentation on the NEC4 Facilities Management Contract (FMC) at a Singapore International Facility Management Association (SIFMA) conference. Government minister Indranee Rajah told over 700 delegates that FMC and its new FMC Y(SG) clauses provided a framework to enhance service delivery, and reported on the current FMC trial by BCA Academy.

At a separate event, Robert ran a half-day mock mediation workshop in Singapore based on the NEC4 Alliance Contract (ALC). Organised in collaboration with Chinese law firm Fangda Partners and International Dispute Resolution Chambers, the event was attended by 30 professionals, mostly in the legal and contracting sectors.

Further exciting developments are planned – watch this space!