Winning International Group Vice President and SMB-Winning Consortium Railway Company representative Mr. Tony Sun (front left) and China Railway 18 Bureau Group Co., Ltd. representative Mr. Chen Ertao (front right) at the contract-signing ceremony
2019 April 24, Qingdao, Shandong, China – Today, the construction of the SMB-Winning Consortium’s Dapilon-Santou Railway reached another monumental milestone! Winning International Group Vice President and SMB-Winning Consortium Railway Company representative Mr. Tony Sun, China Railway 18th Bureau Group Co., Ltd. representative Mr. Chen Ertao and China Railway 14th Bureau Group Co., Ltd. representative Mr. Zhang Zeyong respectively signed railway engineering and construction contracts, signifying that the SMB-Winning Consortium’s Dapilon-Santou Railway has officially entered the construction phase and marking a momentous start conducive to the target of formal operation of the SMB-Winning Consortium’s Dapilon-Santou Railway by June 16, 2021.
Winning International Group Vice President and SMB-Winning Consortium Railway Company representative Mr. Tony Sun (front left) and China Railway 14th Bureau Group Co., Ltd. representative Mr. Zhang Zeyong (front right) at the contract-signing ceremony
President of Winning International Group Mr. Sun Xiushun, General Manager of Railway Company Mr. Shi Jian, Vice General Manager of Qingdao Company of Winning International Group Mr. Zhang Yong, Vice General Manager of Railway Company Mr. Guan Xiaojun, Assistant to the General Manager of Railway Company Mr. Peng Weiqiang, Director of the Engineering Department of International Company of China Railway 18 Bureau Group Mr. Li Zhaozhu, Deputy Director of the Marketing Department of International Company of China Railway 18th Bureau Group Mr. Cai Zhifeng, Director of the Material and Equipment Department of 3rd Company of China Railway 14th Bureau Group Mr. Li Yong, Project Manager of the Relevant Segment of the SMB-Winning Consortium’s Dapilon-Santou Railway Project of 3rd Company of China Railway 14th Bureau Group Mr. Yuan Xiangfu and others jointly witnessed the signing of the contracts.
During the previous railway tender bidding process, the SMB-Winning Consortium conducted comprehensive evaluation and observation of the various interested bidding parties from aspects such as company capacity, technical capability and work ethics, culminating in the invitation of five organizations to partake in the bidding, namely the China Railway No.3 Engineering Group Co., Ltd., China Railway 14th Bureau Group Co., Ltd., China Railway 18th Bureau Group Co., Ltd., China Railway 20th Bureau Group Corporation and China First Highway Engineering Company Ltd. Thereafter, a bid assessment panel comprised of external experts and SMB-Winning Consortium’s professional railway staffs earnestly and meticulously evaluated the five companies from the technical and commercial perspectives, then the various companies’ project managers’ performance in face-to-face dialogues were taken into consideration, and ultimately China Railway 14th Bureau Group Co., Ltd. and China Railway 18th Bureau Group Co., Ltd. were chosen to build two relevant segments on the SMB-Winning Consortium’s Dapilon-Santou Railway.
“The official signing of the engineering contracts means that the SMB-Winning Consortium’s Dapilon-Santou Railway has formally entered the construction phase, and marks a momentous start conducive to the target of formal operation of the SMB-Winning Consortium’s Dapilon-Santou Railway by June 16, 2021,” Mr. Tony Sun, the Vice President of Winning International Group and representative of the SMB-Winning Consortium Railway Company, remarked after the conclusion of the contract-signing ceremony.
On March 29 this year, the ground-breaking ceremony for the SMB-Winning Consortium’s Dapilon-Santou Railway was held (pictured above). President of the Republic of Guinea Alpha Condé was personally in attendance at the ceremony and initiated the Dapilon-Santou Railway project, and tens of thousands of Guinean community residents were also on-site to witness the ceremony. Distinguished guests also in attendance at the ceremony included Guinean Minister of Mines and Geology Abdoulaye Magassouba, Minister of Investments and Public-private Partnerships Gabriel Curtis and other government officials, local magistrates of the Boké Region, delegates from Chinese-funded enterprises, stakeholders of the SMB-Winning Consortium, and businesspersons and scholars of the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) DBA program that were visiting and touring Guinea. Chief Commander of the SMB-Winning Consortium, honorary consul of Guinea in Singapore and president of Winning International Group Sun Xiushun addressed the audience during the ground breaking ceremony (pictured below).
Information indicates that this railway (Dapilon-Santou Railway) under construction is located within the Boké and Kindia regions in northwestern Guinea, designed exclusively for the mining zones and will connect the Port of Dapilon with the Santou mine zone. Stretching for a total length of roughly 135km, the entirety of the railway will feature 23 bridges, two tunnels and six depots. The Dapilon-Santou Railway is a crucial support for the SMB-Winning Consortium’s mineral extraction and recovery operation in the Santou mining zone, as well as a vital infrastructure facility that will serve bauxite enterprises such as Chico along its route. During its early and near-future phases, the railway will be primarily tasked with the transportation of mineral rocks from the mining zone to the Consortium Boké Harbor No. 2 (Dapilon Harbor). Farther down the road, there are hopes to open its services to third-parties, and to integrate into the Guinean national railway transport network to better serve the country’s socio-economic development.
The railway (Dapilon-Santou Railway) under construction is designed exclusively for the mining zones and will connect the Port of Dapilon with the Santou mine zone over its total length of roughly 135km.
Under the efforts of the SMB-Winning Consortium, Guinea has risen as the biggest bauxite exporting-nation in the world, and the construction of this railway will further reinforce Guinea’s advantageous status in the global bauxite market. The SMB-Winning Consortium will also leverage on the railway to drive progress in its alumina factory and agricultural projects in order to create an industrial and agricultural economic corridor in the Boké Region.
The Guinean SMB-Winning Consortium, which consists of three nations and four parties, has answered to the call of the creation of a “community of common destiny,” proactively participates in the Chinese “Belt and Road” initiative, endeavors to position the Guinean railway as a key segment and crucial node in the future international economic and trade systems, and strives to uphold the principles of safety, high quality, high efficiency and low cost in the design and construction of the Dapilon-Santou Railway, so that it may become a landmark project that will stimulate the conception and advancements of other railways in West Africa.
SMB-Winning Consortium
The SMB-Winning Consortium is comprised of Singapore’s Winning International Group, China Hongqiao Group under Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group, Guinea’s UMS and China’s Yantai Port Group. In November 2015, the SMB-Winning Consortium successfully utilized maritime transshipment platform to load up Capesize bulk carriers, which significantly reduced logistics and shipping costs. The first vessel of Guinean bauxite was safely delivered to the Port of Yantai in China, signifying a historic and momentous breakthrough. The SMB-Winning Consortium partners with Chico and French mining corporation Alliance Minière Responsable (AMR) in its mining operation, and at present, the SMB-Winning Consortium has become the largest exporter of bauxite in Guinea.
The success of the project’s operation has stimulated an increase in the Guinean GDP, strengthened Guinea’s foreign exchange balance, created nearly 10,000 direct job openings and around 30,000 to 50,000 indirect employment opportunities in the country, and benefited more than 100,000 Guinean families. In order to better carry out its corporate social responsibility, the SMB-Winning Consortium has invested vast amount in communities in the mining zone, including the construction of rural roads, schools, vocational training centers, rural clinics and wells, so as to improve the well-being of local folks.