Building the North-South high-speed railway: A revolution that helps Vietnamese enterprises 'change their skin'

Need to connect, not compete

At the seminar: “High-speed railway - Opportunities and challenges for Vietnamese enterprises”, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hiep, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Construction Contractors, commented that Vietnam has never implemented a project with such large capital and scale as the North-South high-speed railway project, with a huge construction volume, worth more than 33 billion USD.

“It can be said that this is a revolution, helping to "change the skin" of construction contractors. We are aware that this is a project that is not too difficult in terms of technology but is very large in scale. I affirm that Vietnamese enterprises today can completely handle the technology and construction. The issue of concern is the labor force,” said Mr. Hiep.

According to the consulting department's calculations, the project will need about 240,000 technical workers for infrastructure construction and installation and some specialized fields, 13,800 operating personnel and about 2,000 consulting experts. This is an extremely large demand for human resources.

The North-South high-speed railway project is an opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to demonstrate their capabilities. (Illustration photo: Al)

Mr. Hiep emphasized that if the high-speed railway system is still considered a tunnel or cable-stayed bridge, Vietnamese contractors can do it, but with a speed of 350km/h, the project requires a different level of technology, so we cannot be subjective. Vietnamese contractors must be aware that this is a new technological battlefield that requires learning and absorbing the most advanced knowledge about construction for application.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy, General Director of Deo Ca Group, also commented that this is a great opportunity for domestic enterprises but also a challenge in terms of technology and engineering. "We have made certain preparations with the spirit of self-reliance and self-reliance. I believe that enterprises are always aware of their responsibility in participating with the State to implement the project," said the leader of Deo Ca Group.

According to experts, cooperation is a decisive factor for Vietnamese enterprises to participate in key projects of the country. Colonel Nguyen Tuan Anh, Deputy General Director of Truong Son Construction Corporation, analyzed: "Enterprises need to coordinate with each other. Previously, construction and installation enterprises often competed, but recently there has been good interaction support, this factor needs to be promoted when implementing high-speed railways and other railway systems" , said Mr. Tuan Anh.

Colonel Phan Phu - Chairman of the Board of Directors of the 319 Corporation of the Ministry of National Defense also said that currently, cooperation between domestic transport enterprises is a matter of great concern. " Faced with the huge opportunity from the high-speed railway project, domestic enterprises should join hands instead of eliminating each other. Only cooperation is the only opportunity to participate deeply in the project" , Mr. Phu emphasized.

Vietnamese businesses need to cooperate with each other in building high-speed railways. (Illustration photo)

How have Vietnamese businesses prepared?

Regarding human resource preparation, Mr. Hoang Nang Khang, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Railway Corporation, said that the unit is currently focusing on restructuring and building a management model to suit the operation of high-speed railways. “ We are working with domestic enterprises and foreign partners on all issues related to technology, localization, technology transfer, and joint ventures,” said Mr. Khang.

It is expected that about 13,800 workers will be needed for operation. The human resources team is responsible for working with domestic and foreign training facilities to prepare for this source. “In fact, the operation force such as train drivers cannot wait until construction is completed to train them, but to become a train driver, it takes 5 years of training.

We have worked with foreign units, they take at least 8 years of training. If the train drivers are working and sent for training, it will take at least 3 years. The positions of train dispatchers also take 3-5 years," said Mr. Khang.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Duy Thang, Deputy General Director of Trung Chinh Trading and Construction Company Limited, said that this unit has cooperated with the University of Transport to train the company's staff. At the same time, it has organized many working groups to study for a long time, research, and go to the site to see the process of casting beams, maintaining, lifting beams from the base, and installing.

Deo Ca Group is also preparing carefully in terms of human resources and technology. “Regarding human resources, this is not a job that can be prepared in a short time but must be prepared from now until the start of construction and implementation. With about 2 years, this is not a long time. Therefore, the group has taken specific steps early, preparing both domestic and foreign personnel, ” said the leader of Deo Ca.

Regarding technology, Deo Ca has had business trips abroad from China, Japan, and Europe to learn, directly participate in monitoring the construction process, invite units to Vietnam to participate in the bidding packages that the company is implementing, thereby providing advice and suggestions on how to organize and manage to achieve optimal results.

Mr. Van Hong Tuan, Deputy General Director of Cienco4 Group, also said that this unit also has experience participating in the Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien and Cat Linh - Ha Dong urban railway projects.

“The Cienco4 Group has a relatively large workforce, but there is a shortage of engineers and direct technical workers. Meanwhile, the quality of workers in the market is increasingly declining due to the shift of workers to other occupations. Why do we see workers at construction sites mainly from ethnic minorities in the mountainous areas and rarely from the lowlands? This is also the reality at training schools ,” said Mr. Tuan.

Therefore, according to Mr. Tuan, to implement this symbolic project, there needs to be a specific mechanism for participating businesses, helping businesses both improve their capacity and actively contribute to the country's lifeblood project.

Thanh Lam

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/xay-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-bac-nam-cuoc-cach-mang-giup-dn-viet-thay-da-doi-thit-ar908337.html