Son Hai Corporation is renowned as the only infrastructure contractor in Vietnam that offers a 5 to 10-year quality warranty for construction projects, road construction, and hydropower projects.
Most recently, on January 5, 2024, Son Hai Corporation sent a letter to Project Management Board 7, Ministry of Transport, requesting to sign an annex to extend the warranty period from 2 years to 10 years for the construction section of the Van Phong – Nha Trang highway in package XL02 of the North-South Highway Phase 2 project, which is undertaken by the company.
Son Hai Corporation first caught public attention in 2014 when it participated in the expansion project of National Highway 1A. At that time, road sections were usually only guaranteed for 2 years by contractors, but Son Hai declared a 5-year warranty for the two packages it implemented, package No. 10 and package No. 14, which spanned 15 km through Quang Binh province. Son Hai even installed “5-year warranty” signs along the roads “for people to participate in traffic and supervision”.
Not only did Son Hai proclaim a longer warranty period than regulations required, but in 2015, the company also committed to removing any bumps that exceeded the permissible limit by entirely digging up the road and redoing it, rather than filling individual pits as other contractors had done. Based on this commitment, the Ministry of Transport raised the warranty period for National Highway 1A from 2 years to 4 years.
At the end of 2022, Son Hai Corporation once again made a big move by committing to a 10-year warranty with no costs to the state during the warranty period.
Notably, the Nha Trang – Cam Lam Expressway project has a length of 49.1 km, starting in Dien Khanh district, passing through Cam Lam district and Cam Ranh city, Khanh Hoa province, with a total investment of VND 7,600 billion by Son Hai Corporation, and is currently 3 months ahead of schedule.
In addition, according to the plan of Son Hai Corporation, package XL02: Construction of the Van Phong – Nha Trang section of the North-South Expressway Phase 2 will begin implementation from February 2023 and will be completed at least 1 year earlier than scheduled.
Chairman makes first public appearance
Son Hai Corporation was established in 1998 and is one of the largest private enterprises in Quang Binh province. After more than 2 decades, in addition to core construction business, the company’s experience, relationships, and accumulated resources have enabled Son Hai to expand into capital-intensive but promising sectors like energy and real estate.
Thanks to its market reputation and suitable business strategy, Son Hai is becoming a major brand, not only in Quang Binh – Quang Tri region, but also especially if the North-South Expressway projects are implemented on schedule and with high quality.
The success of Son Hai Group is closely tied to the role of Mr. Nguyen Viet Hai, who is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company. According to information on the business registration portal, Mr. Viet Hai is also the controlling shareholder, holding 99.912% of the charter capital of VND 2,338.4 billion of this company.
Mr. Nguyen Viet Hai was born in 1966 in Quang Binh. In 1984, after graduating from the University of Economics with a major in Business Administration, Mr. Hai worked in the Supply Department of the provincial police of Quang Binh. Recognizing his business ability, the leadership assigned him to work directly in Nhat Le Company under the provincial police of Quang Binh.
In 1996, with the change in mechanism, the police were no longer involved in business activities, so Mr. Hai applied to leave and established a business company under the Enterprise Law. Before founding Son Hai Construction and Trading Co., Ltd. in 1998, Mr. Hai had two years of business experience as an individual business proprietor in Bac Ly – Dong Hoi, Quang Binh.
Currently, besides business, Mr. Hai actively participates in political and social activities. In late May 2021, Mr. Nguyen Viet Hai was elected as a representative of the Quang Binh Provincial People’s Council (belonging to the delegate group of Dong Hoi City) for the 2021-2026 term.
Although Son Hai Group has been famous for a long time, it was not until May 18, 2023, that many people learned about the face of this secretive chairman when Mr. Nguyen Viet Hai was interviewed on the 7 p.m. news broadcast of VTV on May 18, 2023.
At the company’s year-end summary event, 28 outstanding individuals were honored from various teams and departments such as road rollers, excavators, dump trucks, cranes, engineers, and managers, representing 1,700 employees of Son Hai Corporation.
Among them, the person with the lowest income is the road roller operator with more than VND 270 million. The other 12 individuals are excavator operators, dump truck drivers, crane operators, tunnel boring machine operators, etc., with incomes ranging from VND 312 to 348 million. 2 technicians and operators have incomes of VND 416 and 492 million respectively.
The honored group of engineers and managers includes 13 people, of which only 1 person earned nearly VND 500 million, while the others earned more than VND 500 million. In particular, 6 managers earned up to VND 1.4 billion in the past year.
“Anyone who says that Son Hai’s salaries are like this or that should look at this evidence. Road roller operators earn an average of VND 280 – 290 million, dump truck drivers over VND 300 million, engineers over VND 500 million, and exceptionally, some earn over VND 1 billion. These are the internal achievements of Son Hai Corporation” – said Chairman Nguyen Viet Hai.
Chairman Nguyen Viet Hai also revealed that in addition to on-time payment of salaries in the past year, Son Hai Corporation set aside nearly VND 60 billion in bonuses for employees in 2023.
In addition to Mr. Nguyen Viet Hai, who holds the remaining stake in Son Hai Group, Mr. Le Viet Huong, born in 1994, holds the position of Director and is one of the six individuals who represent the group under the law.
Besides Son Hai, Mr. Huong is currently listed as a representative in other subsidiaries of the group, namely Dak Di 4 Hydropower Joint Stock Company, Huong Tuan Dat Investment Company Limited, and Minh Huong Company Limited, all based in Quang Binh province.
Mr. Le Van Huong is a bridge and road engineer who started working at Son Hai Group in mid-2017. His whole family, including his father, mother, and older sister, are also employees/managers of different departments in Son Hai Group.
The list of legal representatives of Son Hai Group also includes 4 other members, namely Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hai – Director, born in 1985; Mr. Hoang Minh Truong – Deputy Director, born in 1948; Mr. Ngo Minh Ngoc – Director, born in 1987; and Mr. Nguyen Viet Vuong – General Director, born in 1994.
