Construction Engineering Association Chairman Chen Huang-ming's "Hong Chun-pei Culture and Education Foundation" public-interest lecture

(Taiwan Business Daily News) On June 8, the Hong Chun-pei Culture and Education Foundation and Taiwan Business Daily invited Chen Huang-ming, Chairman of the Taiwan Regional Comprehensive Construction Engineering Industry Association, to give a lecture on "Innovation and Breakthroughs in Construction Engineering." Throughout the lecture, Chairman Chen analyzed his many years of experience in construction engineering management and his life experience, and the audience benefited greatly.

Chen Huang-ming said that from being a child in what was then the poor county of Beigang Township in Yunlin, going to elementary school barefoot and using a cloth bundle as a schoolbag, to now being able to make some modest dedication and contribution to the social engineering industry, he has traveled a long road in the workplace, going through engineering planning, design, construction management, corporate management, real estate development, and even university teaching, so his experience is truly very rich. Chen Huang-ming said that at a time when the global economy is currently in recession, and with politicians making a mess, plus the government's bureaucracy and dysfunction, young friends should all the more stand on their own feet and create their own lives.

Construction Engineering Association Chairman Chen Huang-ming's public-interest lecture: Seek a balance between development and environmental protection, and invigorate Taiwan's economy

Chen Huang-ming said that some people always use "a rolling stone gathers no moss" as an excuse for repeatedly changing companies, and perhaps that is correct thinking. But in his view, if a person cannot overcome the difficulties encountered at one company (including work, interpersonal relationships, and so on), then even if they go to another company (or even change industries), they will still face various different problems and difficulties. If they do not face problems and actively solve them, the rolling stone may eventually hit a wall or fall off a cliff. Therefore, in his personal career, he does not casually change companies, but waits for opportunities to seek chances, positions, and roles for self-training. This is Chen Huang-ming's demand on himself.

However, in the course of his career, Chen Huang-ming required of himself that, in principle, he would not stay in any one position for more than three years. Therefore, at CTCI and CTCI Engineering Corporation, he went through various departments such as geotechnical engineering, civil engineering, projects, and environmental engineering, and also learned many kinds of solid skills. Although the department roles were different, the specialties were different, and the nature of the work was different, the philosophy he actually carried out was consistent throughout: "have the heart, be attentive, do one's utmost," "harmonious interpersonal relationships," "missions must be accomplished," and "create performance and profit." In the process of changing professional departments, he always seized opportunities to recommend himself, and was always able to successfully and satisfactorily accomplish the work and tasks assigned by company supervisors. Later, CTCI Engineering Corporation spun off and established Wanding Engineering Corporation, specializing in public works and transportation engineering, and he volunteered to establish Wanding Engineering Corporation.

After Chen Huang-ming founded Wanding Engineering and it operated stably for three years, he felt that his career still lacked experience in construction engineering. It happened that Taipei City's MRT engineering was just beginning to be promoted, and after much consideration, he took on the Nangang Line, which was then the largest bid in Taipei City's MRT engineering, and afterward major projects such as the Neihu Line.

During his speech, Chen Huang-ming also said that when ordinary people think of the construction industry, they directly associate it with black gold, windfall profits, and collusion between officials and businessmen, but the construction industry is truly a conscience industry of blood and sweat. Running a construction business is quite difficult. First, fundraising is difficult. Second, the government's finances are in difficulty, public works budgets have been greatly reduced, and future public works bidding will intensify. Third, labor costs are increasing and labor is in short supply. Fourth, transportation and material costs are increasing, and operators must bear enormous risks. Finally, there is the possibility of financial crisis. Under the situation of soaring engineering material prices, with the construction industry's original average gross profit margin of only 3% to 5%, a large number of construction industry firms will face financial crisis.

He said construction firms should work hard in three directions: cultivating planning and design capabilities, complementary upstream and downstream industries, and specialized construction firms. Only then will they have room to operate and survive in the future. At the same time, on the management side, they should return to the Company Act, which will be more conducive for construction firms to integrate turnkey business and beneficial for vertical integration of the upstream, midstream, and downstream of the construction industry. In the end, this will inevitably also create a situation in which large construction firms become larger and smaller ones find operation increasingly difficult.

Especially after Taiwan joined the WTO and the construction market opened, he believed that the technology, capital, and scale of the domestic construction industry would find it difficult to contend with foreign construction firms. At present, under the domestic political, economic, social, and special engineering environment, foreign construction firms may not necessarily mount a large-scale invasion, but domestic construction firms should still remain cautious and vigilant, appropriately raise management and technical capabilities and increase the scale of capital, or form strategic alliances or joint operations with other engineering-related enterprises, so as to strengthen corporate constitution and enhance competitiveness.

The more difficulties there are, the more Chen Huang-ming believes that strategic alliances or joint operations are one of the ways for enterprises to readily solve problems they face and emerge from the mire. For example, when government finances are short, private participation in public construction is encouraged, such as handling projects by BT, BOT, or BOO methods and opening them to private investment, so the construction industry must inevitably transform.

After transformation, he said it can be expanded to include overall planning, design, investment, construction, management, training, and operation. In addition to increasing capital or entering joint operations with consulting, financial, and other operational professionals to enlarge scale, the construction industry can operate in industry, commerce, services, and so on, becoming a composite enterprise.

Finally, Chen Huang-ming pointed out that Taiwan truly has many places that should be developed but have not been developed. Penghu and Matsu are most suitably planned, namely for development. "Do we still need to go to Bali or Southeast Asia?" The highways in the Hualien-Taitung area are scarce, and many places are wasted and not put to good use. A debris flow on the Central Cross-Island Highway blocked the road, and now one must detour a very long way to reach the destination. Chen Huang-ming said that for many matters between environmental protection and development, as long as one seeks the word "balance," the problems can be readily solved. Extreme bias toward either side is not a wise decision. The Central Cross-Island Highway was built by the painstaking efforts of the people of Taiwan, and many sections can still be used, but the government has completely blocked them, which is truly a waste of resources. "Taiwan actually has many resources, beautiful mountains and waters. Even Taipei City still has much room for beautification, but the government's delays and slow responses have caused Taiwan's economy to stagnate, and it has even been overtaken. With moderate development, Taiwan would not be in today's situation!"

Profile of Construction Engineering Association Chairman Chen Huang-ming

Construction Engineering Association Chairman Chen Huang-ming holds a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from National Taiwan University, a Master's degree in Transportation Engineering, a Master's degree in Civil Engineering from the State University of New York, and a doctorate in International Business from Nankai University in China; he has served as Director of the Engineering Division, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Kung Sing Engineering Corporation, Standing Director of the Chinese Arbitration Association, Standing Director of the Chinese National Federation of Industries, Chairman of the Taiwan Regional Comprehensive Construction Engineering Industry Association, Chairman of the National Federation of the Chinese Construction Engineering Industry Association, and President of the International Federation of Asian and Western Pacific Contractors' Associations (IFAWPCA); he currently serves as Chairman of the Taiwan Regional Comprehensive Construction Engineering Industry Association, Standing Director of the Chinese National Federation of Industries, Standing Director of the National Federation of the Chinese Construction Engineering Industry Association, Standing Director of the Chinese Arbitration Association, Chairman of Kung Sing Engineering Corporation, and Chairman of Kung Sing Development Corporation; he has received honors including the first Top Ten Dedicated Models in 1992, the Top Ten Outstanding Engineers in 1994, the Engineering Medal of the Chinese Institute of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering in 2008, and the Outstanding Enterprise Leader award at the 8th National Brand Yushan Awards in 2011; he holds professional qualifications including APEC Registered Engineer, International Engineer, Fellow of Engineers Australia, Australian Registered Chartered Professional Engineer, Registered Professional Engineer in the Canadian provinces of B.C. and ALBERTA, Taiwan Registered Civil Engineer, statutory arbitrator, patent agent, and property insurance adjuster.

Hong Chun-pei Culture and Education Foundation 2014 public-interest lecture