SBIC: From ocean liners to the dream of 'wind-breaking' trains...

“We are like tailors...”

Underwater shipbuilding and land shipbuilding (railway), according to Dr. Chung, are both mechanical fields, and have long been the "profession" of SBIC workers.

“For many years, we and Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) have been partners, when SBIC's member units such as Song Cam Shipbuilding Company have built and delivered to them hundreds of passenger cars, freight cars, and specialized cars, on 1,000mm gauge rails, with a design speed of up to 100km/h...”, SBIC Chairman told PLVN .

- Sir, underwater trains (ships), land trains (1,000mm gauge has been built) and the upcoming high-speed railway cars (1,435mm gauge) - are all mechanical products, but the technology and standards used to create them are certainly different. What is the basis for showing that SIBC can "touch" advanced standard technology products such as high-speed railways?

Think of us as tailors, so specify the fabric, material and style to be sewn..., and we will produce the shirts. In theory, it can be understood like that. In reality, we have up to 8 experienced member units, with a large factory system, and there are automatic welding lines that meet the high standards of the railway industry.

"SBIC cannot participate in high-speed railways in a flash, but must do it step by step. As a mechanical enterprise, we must observe the space around us so that when there is an opportunity, we can increase value," said Dr. Pham Hoai Chung .

In addition, SBIC has nearly 10,000 workers with a solid foundation in steel structure manufacturing and mechanical processing who can participate in developing railway wagon products. It is worth mentioning that our annual export value of mechanical and domestic products is estimated at 1.2 billion USD...

Saying that does not mean that SBIC can participate in high-speed railways in a flash, but it takes time and must go step by step. Specifically, on the basis just mentioned, we need to update new technology, need financial resources to realize the construction of railway cars with speeds of over 100km/h.

In this case, if all the factors mentioned above are met, I think SBIC will have an advantage over other mechanical enterprises when approaching billion-dollar railway projects.

- Sir, it is not possible to create "wind cars" overnight, so what is the roadmap to achieve that specific goal?

SBIC has mastered the technology and created mechanical products such as passenger and freight cars, specialized cars running on railways with a design speed of 80km/h - 100km/h. Now it must take it one step further, which is to invest in accessing the technology to build new cars running on 1,435mm rail gauge, with a speed of more than 100km/h.

Specifically, the project we are thinking of is the newly invested Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway line with a gauge of 1,435 mm, transporting passengers and goods together; designed speed of 160 km/h with the main line from the new Lao Cai station to Nam Hai Phong station; 120 km/h with the section through the hub area of ​​Hanoi city.

If we can produce a train that can run at 160km/h, then we can start thinking about trains that can run at speeds higher than that in the future.

Dr. Pham Hoai Chung - Chairman of the Board of Directors of SBIC Corporation.

Why is it still a "dream"?

- SBIC's main profession and origin is shipbuilding and floating vehicles... Why doesn't the enterprise specialize to become a key, spearhead unit in this field but instead aims at the railway industry market, sir?

As a small business, we are forced to observe the opportunities around us so that when conditions permit, we can increase the value of the business.

As mentioned above, SBIC has a certain foundation with railway mechanical products, and especially in the context of Vietnam, the railway development strategy to 2030 and vision to 2050 has set the goal of upgrading infrastructure, investing in modern train systems... This is clearly a great opportunity for businesses including SBIC when participating in this market.

"Although SBIC is facing current difficulties, we are making efforts to restructure the business, and thinking about "touching" billion-dollar railway projects," said Dr. Pham Hoai Chung.

It is known that the North-South high-speed railway project is worth 74 billion USD, of which about 10 billion USD will be invested in locomotives and carriages meeting international standards; or the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway project about to be implemented, with a total investment of nearly 9 billion USD - are also projects that will contribute to promoting the development of mechanical enterprises. Not to mention, in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, there is a huge demand for building new electric carriages to serve urban railway traffic.

In short, the potential opportunities ahead are huge. But all of that is like a dream for SBIC right now because the current situation of the business is difficult, and there are no proactive steps to soon realize that dream.

Many years ago, SBIC and VNR cooperated to build new passenger cars, with a design speed of up to 100km/h.

- What is the biggest "difficulty that limits intelligence" at SBIC right now, sir?

Developing the railcar manufacturing industry requires a huge amount of capital while SBIC is having difficulty accessing preferential loans and mobilizing capital from external financial sources. Specifically, in the period of 2020 - 2023, the corporation only mobilized about 3% of the capital needed for technology innovation investment projects.

In fact, although there have been some investments in railway car manufacturing technology at SBIC, it has not yet reached the modern level of developed countries. Not to mention, the production lines are still heavily dependent on manual labor, productivity is not high but production costs are still high...

Listing these problems shows that we are very realistic, and have understood that if we want to do great things in the future, we must solve well and completely the difficulties of the present. And even though difficulties are surrounding us, we still have to make efforts, still have to dream big dreams for the mechanical industry, for the business.

Therefore, SBIC, under the close direction of the Ministry of Construction, is making daily efforts to help the corporation overcome internal difficulties, restructure the enterprise, so that SBIC has the opportunity to develop, play a leading role in the shipbuilding industry, and further, be able to "touch" the railway mechanical market worth tens of billions of USD right on its "home ground".

Thank you very much!

More than 1,000 cars needed for high-speed rail

According to VNR's estimates, by the end of this year, about 1,472 freight cars and 168 passenger cars will have to stop operating. It is expected that the demand for new cars in the period 2030 - 2050 for the current railway industry, urban railway lines, high-speed railway lines, Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway lines will be 261 locomotives, 1,100 high-speed railway cars, 1,000 passenger cars, 7,000 freight cars, and 1,500 urban railway cars.

In addition to the domestic market, the Vietnamese train-building industry also has opportunities to export to countries with high demand for railway modernization, especially ASEAN countries, Africa and Latin America.

Vo Tuan

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/sbic-tu-tau-bien-toi-giac-mo-nhung-doan-tau-xe-gio-post543426.html