Chapter 210 Contact with Construction Companies
After the meeting, Lin Ruoyan visited several local building materials factories and bulk building materials wholesale distribution centers around the province. She became more certain that the material level and production efficiency of these places could not meet the construction speed of China.
Therefore, if she subcontracts the housing construction project from Mr. Yuan’s big contract in the future, she will have to add some time to the construction period, and the cost will naturally increase due to setting up a local factory or shipping it over by ship. The construction cost per square meter will be more than twice that of domestic affordable housing.
Furthermore, a government dedicated to serving the people spends money on housing to win their hearts and minds, which in Bolivia translates to votes. While cost control is essential, quality must be guaranteed to ensure that locals can move in with ease.
Relying on local construction is expensive and slow, and their skills and equipment are not up to par, so it's basically impossible. To build high-rise residential buildings, we still have to rely on domestic construction teams.
Lin Ruoyan learned from Boss Liu that some Chinese construction companies were already operating overseas. Companies like China Railway Corporation, New Construction Group, and Nanjing Foreign Language Construction Group were established. These experienced teams had built everything from roads and bridges to villas, not just in South America but also in Africa, demonstrating their long-standing commitment to overseas operations.
Lin Ruoyan will definitely visit these three companies this time.
All three companies have projects in the capital of Bolivia. The persons in charge either rent or buy apartments in the city, but they usually live in the project camps, which makes it convenient for them to make decisions nearby and is relatively safe.
She used her connections to make an appointment with someone, and the first place she went to was the China Railway Corporation.
The head of the China Railway Corporation is a middle-aged man wearing glasses. Compared with the tanned people who come from an engineering background, he looks very bookish.
After chatting, I discovered he came from a finance background and later led a team specializing in overseas projects. He relied heavily on his team for engineering and technical skills, but he was more adept at managing money and building relationships. He was also the first to figure out how to ensure that those working on the front lines had working capital.
Otherwise, he would have to file reports and apply for money for everything, and he would have to use so many connections to avoid invoices. He couldn't let people who were overseas pay for things themselves. He was the God of Wealth here, and he kept the troops' morale stable.
The people who were willing to talk to Lin Ruoyan made it clear that they cared more about the major infrastructure projects headed by Yuan. If you're clearing land for farming and building new towns, someone has to build the roads and pipelines, right? The China Railway Corporation has top-notch technology, building tunnels through mountains and bridges across rivers. These unique advantages are unmatched by other construction companies.
Later, Lin Ruoyan went to other camps and found that the camp of China Railway Corporation was the largest and had many domestic technical workers.
The New Construction Corps' strength lies in public construction. They directly stated that their first project, a training school for the current president, is classified. All the blueprints they've received so far have been destroyed after use. While they're skilled in classified projects, they're also sure to build residential buildings, and if they can make a profit, they're certainly on board.
Lin Ruoyan finally went to Nanjing Foreign Language School.
Although this is a large state-owned enterprise, it certainly has no management relationship with the domestic market. It only pays profits on time, and its management model is basically that of a "frontier".
I heard that this team used to be small, but they were the first to arrive, doing a lot of small residential and commercial renovations for Enzhou residents and overseas Chinese. They didn't care about the size of the job; they just took it if there was business. Their advantage was their long-term, stable partnership with local construction professionals.
Their support staff are all locals who can speak Mandarin. This shows that after working together for a long time, they have learned simple daily conversations.
Lin Ruoyan didn't believe it, so she even chatted with a local aunt who was cooking. The aunt could understand Mandarin, but her accent was that of the boss of Nanwaijian.
The aunt also felt aggrieved: "At first, I thought I was learning authentic Mandarin, and I was going to show off when I traveled to your country. But you actually have so many dialects! I can only speak but not write, and I can barely recognize a few words. Many people couldn't understand what I said, so I had to find a translator. After returning to China, I signed up for formal training and learned some Mandarin. Listen to me speaking now, is it easier to understand?"
In fact, Lin Ruoyan could only understand about 70% of it, and this was after she spent money on training and practiced hard. It shows the infectiousness of the dialect, so she didn't discourage her.
The locals are enthusiastic about learning Mandarin and the salaries are high. Among many overseas companies, only those run by Chinese people truly value equality. Not only can you get paid for your work, but you can also learn real skills.
Take this kitchen lady, for example. She's mastered Hunan cuisine and works in the kitchen year-round. She brings home any expiring food or leftovers, supporting several people in her family while also earning a salary. In a few years, she hopes to have her eldest daughter join the workforce, perhaps in a receptionist position. Knowing a foreign language is a plus.
People from Nanwai Construction also shared their experience. They run businesses and undertake local projects, and they have developed a unique method for managing labor ratios, adding many seemingly informal "formal" positions.
For example, a normal domestic construction company may not need so many logistics and handymen, but here they recruit a lot of logistics personnel, giving priority to women, especially those from single-parent families, and providing them with various kinds of assistance, such as a nursery in the camp.
These single-parent mothers come to work on construction sites, taking on crucial roles like safety oversight and cleaning and kitchen help. Women are more attentive. Their young children can't be left unattended at home, so they come to the construction sites, where the company provides free care. Care requires people, and this solves many of the locals' staffing issues.
Therefore, many locals wandered around the camp, most of whom served as "logistics" personnel. The majority of female workers were "internalized." Female workers were inherently cheaper than male workers, and this boosted the local female employment rate, a political achievement for local managers.
Some workers, both men and women, who are serious about learning skills can naturally transition from laborers to professional workers. Those who aren't serious and can't learn can continue doing manual labor. They don't need to be fired if they get tired after a week or two. Many safety "supervisors" are watching closely, conducting weekly evaluations. The winners will be eliminated, and their wages will be deducted, so they won't come back. Laborers are highly replaceable.
In this way, as long as the contract stipulates the ratio of domestic and local workers, Nanwai Construction can always solve this problem. They can find the best local workers, manage them well, and improve their work efficiency.
The person in charge at Nanwai Construction is also surnamed Liu, and is from the same hometown as Mr. Liu, with a similar accent. However, Mr. Liu is a veteran engineer, originally trained as an electrician, with graying hair. He claims to have spent most of his life on construction sites, including a decade or so working overseas. He plans to retire and return to China in two or three years.
Mr. Liu keenly realized that Lin Ruoyan only wanted to work on short-term projects, so the construction services he could provide were actually more suitable. Mr. Liu also wanted to find a more comfortable retirement "re-employment" job after returning to China, so wouldn't working as a consultant for a private real estate company like Lin Ruoyan be perfect?
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