Nghe An people are friendly and talented.
German experts have long impressed the people of Nghe An because many of them came and built many projects in Vinh City after the war. In the first days of Spring Canh Dan, we met German experts with a professional and urgent working pace at the construction site of Saigon-Song Lam Brewery, Hanoi-Nghe An Brewery... those who celebrated Tet in Uncle Ho's homeland to welcome the first working day of the year.
The idea of having a conversation with German experts on the construction site has been around for a long time because every time we came to work at the Saigon-Song Lam Brewery, we saw them in groups discussing, working attentively, checking... wearing blue shirts with smiles walking quickly on the construction site. From the 4th day of the Lunar New Year, when many places were celebrating the New Year, the Saigon-Song Lam Brewery construction site entered the first working day of the new year. With the help of assistant interpreter Nguyen Thi Hong Thai from Nam Dan, we had a conversation with them.
Helmut Knolle, Peter Elbers, Gerhard Stadler... are German experts of the world-famous Krones General Contractor in the field of beverages and refreshments, when this company won the bid to build the Saigon-Song Lam Brewery. Previously, the company built two breweries, Cu Chi and Quang Ngai, for the Saigon Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Corporation. They came to Nghe An, to the Saigon-Song Lam Brewery because of the FIDIC contract - an international contract with international working conditions, not only concerned with quality, progress, cost but also with the environment, labor safety and health.
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Experts exchange work on factory site |
Mr. Helmut Knolle - Site Director, 60 years old, representative of Krones at the factory, taking full responsibility on the construction site, has been in Nghe An since January 2009 until now. He has traveled around the world with many similar projects and works. Tall and agile, he took advantage of some precious time to meet us in the mobile Container house - where he and his colleagues have been "fighting" with the harsh weather of Nghe An and the strict progress of the contract for over a year.
"When I returned to Nghe An, I first had to go and examine the entire site to the construction site, arrange the routes scientifically, where to dump the containers, where to process and assemble," he began. "At first, I had difficulty with the language, but thanks to two talented assistants from Nghe An, Ms. Thai and Ms. Lai, I was able to complete the task. We have worked 750,000 hours on the construction site but we have not encountered any problems yet."
He said that although he has been back in Nghe An for a whole year, he has visited Uncle Ho's homeland 6 times - an admirable number. 6 times with different groups of guests, sometimes with his wife, sometimes with a brewery representative... but each time he had different feelings about the indomitable vitality of the people of Nghe An and greatly admired Uncle Ho. "I love Quang Trung Street - where the Saigon-Kim Lien Hotel where I stayed is located. Every evening after returning from the construction site to the hotel to rest, I would walk on the street, looking at the Quang Trung high-rise apartment block - where we Germans once came to build and contribute to healing the war. At those times, I felt Germany and Vietnam were so close. Then I walked down to Ho Chi Minh Square, Central Park... Vinh City at night is so beautiful, so peaceful, I feel so safe".
Working from 7am to 6pm at the factory, Mr. Helmuts and his colleagues have a lunch break at the construction site, then immediately start working in the afternoon. The Container House is full of documents and papers, the hot summer can be imagined, but no one feels tired or uncomfortable. They only think about how to make the work go as smoothly and as well as possible. The work pressure is high, but they are all used to it and feel satisfied. The progress table in English has been underlined for more than half of the time, marking important milestones of work done. At the construction site, a large factory is gradually being completed. Directing so many jobs, meeting the investor's handover schedule, he and Installation Director Gerhard Stadler work all day with a mountain of machinery and equipment imported from Germany and coordinate well with other subcontractors. There are many days when he and his colleagues do not return to the hotel but stay at the factory to work to handle the work because the construction site operates night shifts. The equipment in the brewery and the bottling plant are the most important and complex, requiring 24/7 operation.
He said Krones was the general contractor for the construction of the Saigon-Song Lam Brewery with 14 subcontractors, with a contract value of nearly 100 million USD, of which the construction and installation part only accounted for 20%. "A very new point that accelerated the construction progress of the factory was that we both carried out the construction and installed the equipment. All contractors worked together. I was completely satisfied that the construction site was mainly Nghe An engineers, but they worked very professionally and cooperated very well." Having worked with construction engineers, engineers of the factory's Project Management Board, and now meeting Krones' assistants, I was also impressed by their professionalism, foreign language skills and simple style.
The most impressive thing for Helmut and the experts was that every time the leaders of Nghe An province came to the construction site, they would come into the cabin to meet, visit and encourage them. They asked about their health, progress, and the difficulties that needed to be resolved. That affection and responsibility made Helmut and his colleagues feel very close and warm. Helmut showed me the oval plate with the image of Ho Chi Minh Square that the Provincial Chairman Phan Dinh Trac gave him, the khaki hat full of signatures from friends when they visited Uncle Ho's hometown... He also showed me two lovely dogs that the sisters at the construction site brought to him because they knew he loved raising dogs.
There are only two most important milestones for the factory: the first brew on May 19, 2010 and the first bottling on June 16, 2010. And there are about 6 more months for the factory to operate perfectly before the experts return to the country to work on other projects. But for them, Vinh City, Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen are very close and affectionate. During Tet Canh Dan, staying in Nghe An, they bought small gifts to congratulate and celebrate Tet with the families of Nghe assistants. In the future, Nghe An will have a new factory, a great joy, and many people understand that this achievement is due to the great efforts of German experts.
Chau Lan
