Development history of Song Da Corporation - JSC

 

Song Da Corporation today is the results of a continuous construction and development journey of the past 56 years in association with the development of the country.    

On June 1st, 1961, the Prime Minister signed a Decision No. 214 / TTg on establishment of the Management Board of Thac Ba hydroelectric power station that has become a history one, giving birth to the Corporation, which means that the hydropower construction industry was also born. Starting from nothing, only with the determination being absorbed with the patriotism spirit, the largest industrial site at that time was formed. Regardless of many hardships and working under rudimentary handwork conditions, thousands of employees still filled with belief in their hearts to be able to light the first electric current for the country, which many of its employees lost their life under American bombs. The predecessor generation of the Corporation has left a good example for the followers to appreciate the achievements and efforts contributing to the golden page in history of Song Da Corporation.

Thac Ba hydropower project forever deserves to be named as a symbol of patriotism, unyielding Will and courageous spirit of the first hydro-electric in Vietnam, as demonstrated by the Song Da workers.

While Thac Ba hydropower plant was not completed yet, due to the country need of many factories and enterprises to serve for the people's welfare and national defence, the Corporation's employees continuously came on time to the new lands. Chain of works were built by the contribution and wisdom of the Corporation’s staffs at that time, and at present, they are still contributing effectively to the country renovation, namely Minh Phuong Textile Factory, Bai Bang Paper Factory, highway No. 7, Yen Bai Airport, Viet Tri Chemical Factory, etc,.

Although the power resources were being continuously dispersed and lives were lost due to the war, the Corporation still silently built, and preserved experienced staffs, experts and skilled workers to prepare for larger projects. 

That opportunity came in 1975 when the country united, was also the time when the Party and the Government entrusted the Corporation with a very difficult mission but it was really honored for Song Da to be assigned. That was conquering Da River and building the largest hydropower plant in Southeast Asia - Hoa Binh hydropower project.

A new history page of the Corporation was opened right on the land that used to be considered as "holy ghost, poisonous water". At this century work, tens of thousands of employees, especially young workers who were unstinting in their efforts at days and nights, sparing no hardships & harsh weather and defying all dangers to work with the spirit of slogan "All for tomorrow’s electricity for the Fatherland ’’. It was really a period of time when every moment of life carried the facts and values ​​of morality. It is impossible to enumerate all the heaped-up difficulties and unforeseen obstacles that Song Da Corporation's employees had to overcome to turn the centuries-old dream of the people into reality. No matter how the time made it changed, Hoa Binh hydropower project has been always a monument to the youth of Ho Chi Minh generation, a convergence of mind and force, a crystallization of aspiration and intelligence, courage, tradition of learning and progressive spirit that nurtured from Vietnamese cultural root.

The country transformed itself into a period of innovation, bringing the Corporation great opportunities and challenges. The management and production organization had to be quickly changed to a light and self-motivated way to adapt, survive and develop in the market mechanism with fierce competition; At the same time, Song Da had to find ways to keep precious human resources at risk of dispersion in the post-period of the project. For this purpose, the Corporation implemented many production development plans to create jobs. From the opening of various industries such as garments, material production with 2 cement plants of each plant capacity of 8.2 thousand tons / year, packaging production, transportation services, civil construction, labor export, including livestock-breeding, etc. Timely and sustained efforts helped the Corporation overcome the most difficult periods to consolidate and build forces to enter a new period marked by the fact that the Party and Government tasked Song Da to be the general contractor to build Yaly hydropower plant in the Central Highland.

Yaly was not only a new land for Song Da workers to cultivate, but also a place to acknowledge the outstanding growth of the Corporation that Song Da workers were entitled to be proud of. Yaly hydropower project was not only built on complex terrain and geology with erratic weather, but there were also many remnants of war remained in this new land. Song Da workers had to face with malaria, landmines, toxic chemicals and an extremely poor and backward infrastructure. Once again, Song Da workers showed his unyielding spirit and the tradition of solidarity to overcome all hardships in order to successfully accomplish the tasks assigned by the Party and the Government. Also, at Yaly hydropower project in the Central Highlands, Song Da workers have successfully built Yaly hydropower plant with a capacity of 720MW without having to hire any foreign consultant, which convincingly demonstrated that Vietnam's hydropower construction industry has really developed.

          After Yaly hydropower project, the Corporation continued to contribute to awakening the potential of the Central Highland and other lands in all regions of the country by building hydropower plants through BO and BOT investment forms such as Can Don hydropower plant, Ry Ninh 2 hydropower plant, Na Place hydropower plant, Nam Mu hydropower plant, Se San 3A hydropower plant, Nam Chien hydropower plant, etc. On the other hand, with the experience of building hydropower projects, Song Da Corporation was honored to be assigned by the Party and the State to be the general contractor for construction of the hydropower projects: Se San 3, Se San 4, Pleikrong, Tuyen Quang, Ban Ve, Hua Na, Son La, Huoi Quang and Lai Chau, etc. At the same time, the Corporation also invested in large hydropower projects in Lao People's Democratic Republic such as Xekaman 3 with a capacity of 250MW, Xekaman 1 with 322MW capacity. This is a breakthrough step to create the strength of Song Da Corporation.

          For transportation works, Song Da Corporation undertook the construction of some projects such as Ho Chi Minh Road, Deo Ngang tunnel, Hai Van Tunnel, etc. At Hai Van tunnel project, Song Da workers continued to affirm their special ability because this was an extremely complicated project on technical part and geological processing. Many foreign experts and contractors have given up ahead unforeseen geological incidents even in the tunnel construction in the world. However, with the spirit of creativity and bravery, not subdued by the difficulties that have become Song Da’s tradition, Song Da workers quickly found out the solutions for the obstacles while ensuring the construction progress, which resulted in high economic efficiency and saved for the State tens of billions of VNDs. The success of Song Da workers at Hai Van tunnel project site has been highly appreciated and admired by the Employer and foreign consultants.

          Thus, with the advanced tunneling technology and experience & intelligence, Song Da workers has made a feat to conquer "The First Pass". At the Hai Van Tunnel project, once again, Song Da workers also proved its strength in the new era.

        Song Da was proud of its achievements; however, for the survival and development, it must strive to strive constantly without being arrogant and satisfied with itself. The corporation has learned from that profound lesson and there was not any choice but to change the way of acting and thinking. This has been done and showing its correctness and soundness. It can be said that, during the construction and development stage, the Corporation has never actively promoted internal potentials as strong and assertive as the current period. Resources "Strength - solidarity - wisdom - creativity" have been being awakened to promote high efficiency. The revolutionary improvements in production reorganization resulted in the Corporation a more steady position, turning the Corporation from a construction contractor into really a big investor  domestically and internationally, which  had a team of engineers, managers, skilled workers, high-level workers in the construction industry with advanced machine and equipment system. The Corporation was ready to undertake and perform well the tasks assigned by the Party and the State. Actually, it is shown that 70% of the country's electricity output is now supplied by the hydropower plants built by Song Da Corporation. In the past, the products of the Corporation were almost only hydroelectricity; now, there are many new fields in the numbers of industries, among of which, many completely new production and service sectors such as traffic works, airports, quay, international labor cooperation, etc have increased the proportion in the field of industrial production of the Corporation. Particularly, along with the development of production, the consulting team of the Corporation was more and more developed, capable of undertaking consulting services for hydropower, civil and industrial projects from the stage of survey, preparation of feasibility study report, technical design to the construction drawing design, construction supervision, etc.

 Over 57 years is the period of time that has recorded the outstanding development of Song Da Corporation. Starting from a small and passive collective which was established in early days consisting of only 03 irrigational engineers, 30 intermediate technicians, 40 primary technicians, 01 geological expert, 01 surveyor and several hundred workers, Song Da Corporation nowadays has really developed in both quantity and quality. Currently, the Corporation employs approximately 15,000 staffs and skilled workers, among of which, nearly 3000 engineers and technical staffs are experienced and high qualified. From a property with almost nothing in the post period of Song Da hydropower project, after only over 10 years, the Corporation has become one of the leading units in the construction industry, with an annual turnover of 20,000 - 30,000 billion dongs, with an average growth rate of 25-35% per year. Income of employees in the Corporation has been constantly improved; social welfare system such as insurance, health care, entertainment, security, education and in-depth investment for high-quality human resource development have been developed and invested properly and effectively.

          Nowadays, referring to the glorious tradition of Song Da Corporation, we should firstly make mention of the following specific traditions:

          - Working with brave, diligent, intelligent and creative spirit.

          - Honesty, solidarity, unification of will and actions of all collectives and individuals in each unit and the whole Corporation. This is the basic source to create the power of the Corporation through many generations.

          - A glorious tradition of affection and deep concern, mutual support and love between the collectives and individuals, among all employees of Song Da Corporation over generations, between the Corporation Song Da and local teammates and people throughout the country.

          - Tradition of patriotic emulation and overcoming all hardships to successfully accomplish all assigned tasks.

          - Tradition of passion for learning, research, making a great effort constantly to improve qualifications in all aspects and master all advanced technologies and equipment.

          The referred tradition was also a memorization and gratitude for the people who heroically died for the Fatherland and construction career. Actually, the Corporation has contributed to solving difficulties for many localities with practical jobs such as building schools for children of ethnic minorities in Son La and Lai Chau and Cao Bang, Tuyen Quang, Hoa Binh, Ha Tinh, Quang Ngai, Gia Lai, Kon Tum for many years. At the same time, a Song Da fund was set up for these activities. In addition, the Corporation received lifelong support for 10 Vietnamese heroic mothers.

          With over 57 years of tireless work of many generations, Song Da Corporation can be now proud of its Golden Achievement Board with noble rewards acknowledged and awarded by the Party and State and people.

          But the honor always attaches with the responsibility. The greater the honor is, the heavier the responsibility is, because the task and challenges now require the employees of Song Da Corporation to be strived harder. It is both an indispensable rule of development, and also honor & dignity of each collective and individual. Thus, Song Da workers have been deeply aware of all their thoughts and actions to deservedly contribute to the industrialization and modernization of the country for the prosperity of the rich and beautiful Vietnam Fatherland.

OVERVIEW SCHEDULE OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF SONG DA CORPORATION - JSC

 

Development history of Song Da Corporation – JSC

 

I- The establishment time (from 1961 to 1975)

- Decision No.214/TTg dated June 1st, 1961 by the Prime Minister on establishing the Management Board of Thac Ba hydroelectric power plant.

II- From 1976 to 1998

- Decision No.1468 / BXD-TCCB dated October 11th, 1979 by the Minister of Construction on regulations of functions, tasks and organizational structure of Song Da Hydropower Plant Construction Corporation in Hoa Binh.

III- From 1998 to January 11th, 2010

- Decision No.285 / BXD-TCLD dated March 11th, 2002 by the Minister of Construction on changing the name of Song Da Construction Corporation and member subsidiaries of Song Da Corporation.

 - Decision No.2435 / QĐ-BXD dated 30/12/2005 of the Minister of Construction on changing Song Da Corporation into the form of organization and operation under the model of Parent Company - Subsidiary Company.

IV- From January 12th, 2010 to November, 2012

- Decision No.52 / QĐ-TTg dated January 12th, 2010 by the Prime Minister on approval of the establishment plan of Vietnam Construction Industry Group operating in the form of parent company - subsidiary company, among of which, Song Da Corporation was the core along with the participation of enterprises operating in similar fields under the Ministry of Construction.

+ Vietnam Machinery Assembly Corporation - LILAMA

+ Infrastructure Development and Construction Corporation - LICOGI

+ Construction Mechanical Corporation - COMA

+ Song Hong Joint Stock Corporation

+ Construction Development and Investment Joint Stock Corporation

+ Subsidiaries of Song Da Corporation (currently)

- Decision No.53 / QĐ-TTg dated January 12th, 2010 by the Prime Minister on the establishment of Parent Company - Song Da Group based on reorganizing the management and administration, advisory apparatus; project management boards; subsidiaries and non-business units of Song Da Corporation.

V- From November, 2012 to March, 2018

 - Decision No.937 / QĐ-BXD dated October 24th, 2012 by the Minister of Construction on establishment of Song Da Corporation (changing Song Da Group to Song Da Corporation).

VI- From March 26th, 2018 to now

- Decision by the Prime Minister on approval of the equitization plan of Song Da Corporation.

- The first General Meeting of Shareholders of Song Da Corporation - JSC was held on March 26th, 2018.