Joining Hanoi’s autumn atmosphere of great historical events, the Urban Area and Housing Investment Development Corp (HUD) had its own joy when it received the noble title “Labour Hero in Renovation Time" on occasion of its 20th year of operation.
Success was made by silent contributions of the company’s generations and particularly Chairman Nguyen Hiep who pioneered in bringing the HUD trademark to a new height from a project of ten years ago, turning Linh Dam Marsh into a model urban area, also called heaven on earth.
Devotion to construction sector
Nguyen Hiep was born into a revolutionary family at Phuong Vu village, Phuong Duc commune, Phu Xuyen district, the old province of Ha Tay, a land of talents. After twenty seven years working in the construction sector, Hiep considers this as his profession and devotes all his life to pursuit it. Taking a leadership position in HUD for 17 years, he has always thought of seeking ways for HUD development in parallel with maintaining its national identity. He spent all his lifetime to the construction sector, and now, he still embraces plans to develop the company further. He expects to build new apartments serving certain groups like young couples, intellectuals, and the old as well as eco-urban areas.
During a short meeting with the chairman, we still recoganised his deep love of job. He did not want to say much about his previous successes, but mentioned future goals. To affirm and develop HUD trademark, it is important to develop in his own way, he said.
The chairman said, HUD will focus on services quality in the next ten years. The firm is ready to compete with big rivals, even foreign firms. HUD has called on several local firms to set up a joint stock which will cooperate with a Lao firm to build a 40-hectare urban area in Vientiane. HUD has come to Cuba. In all of its projects, Hiep always shows the will of an entrepreneur who dares to carry out his plans.
“First success”
Hiep started working for HUD in July 1992. He still remembers clearly that: “The former Vietnamese construction ministers of Ngo Xuan Loc, Nguyen Manh Kiem and Nguyen Hong Quan assigned HUD to develop urban areas in Hanoi, focusing on the south’s weak urban infrastructure”. It was a difficult task for the company at that time as HUD did not understand anything about the new model of urban area.
With 27years of experience in the construction sector, Hiep understood that the first key factor was planning. Being the pioneer in the urban area development, Hiep and the company’s staffs faced lots of difficulties. He recalled that they lacked practical experience. They learnt models of foreign countries, but did not how to apply these in Vietnam. Besides, public pressures were also a problem for the company as they had to carry out urban area projects for several tens of millions of people.
All of these followed him during the project implementation time. Until people flocked into Linh Dam urban area, he and HUD staffs sighed with relief. The modern urban area is located in the middle of a peaceful region with fresh air. It is known as a model urban area: “We have introduced a new apartment management model with six services: water and electricity supply, waste collection, bike and motorbike parking, lift operation and security and environment. People are interested in the model and call it “heaven on earth”. Linh Dam has become one of the two model urban areas in Vietnam, behind Phu My Hung, Hiep said with pride.
In 2002, Nguyen Hiep was granted the title of Labour Hero, which is the great pride of every entrepreneur. However, for Hiep, the biggest job is that Linh Dam urban area has gotten strong support from people for is high-quality services, safety and convenience and fresh air. Whenever he comes to Linh Dam, he really feels happy to see children playing and the old doing morning exercises besides green and clean roads. The image of a marsh has completely disappeared.
The success of Linh Dam project has encouraged him to make further contributions to the HUD development. The company has continued new projects in Dinh Cong, My Dinh and Viet Hung. To date, it has developed 40 urban areas nationwide.
Selecting its own development way
The difference and also the strength of HUD is implementing projects which are located in underdeveloped areas. Hiep said: “We invest in the urbanization process. It is vital to predict potentials of these areas. I do not build urban areas serving high-income people, but those who are in need of accommodation”.
How come investors are building high-end apartments, but HUD takes on projects in weak-infrastructure areas, far from the central city?
The answer is the “heart” and “brain” of an enterprise. Hiep said, being a state-owned enterprises, HUD has to select underdeveloped areas to develop them into modern ones. This is the “heart” of a company, showing its social responsibility. On the other hand, being an experienced and determined businessman, Hiep said with a confidence: “I see potential everywhere. Investors must think how to carry out the project, not only make profit. Little or much of our profit is contributed to the state budget. Over the past eight years, our equity has increased by 40 folds compared with the founding day”.
Recently, the prime minister has approved a project to set up HUD Group. This is also the great honour and also a challenge for the firm. Under the project, HUD will have 20 affiliates. The chairman said the future HUD Group will continue with housing projects nationwide. The group will contribute to regulating the real estate market under the prime minister’s instructions. Under the group model, HUD will establish affiliates localities to carry out projects. + In spite of meeting with various difficulties, the will of an entrepreneur helps him make success. “We are very confident that we can realise our goals and help regulate the local realty market”, Hiep noted.
Vietnamese
