Evergreen Group celebrated its 50th anniversary recently at the Chang Yung-Fa Foundation, home of the charity set up by Dr Y F Chang, founder and chairman of the Evergreen Group.
Besides senior executives and employees of the group’s businesses, the event was attended by public officials, customers and business agents from both the shipping and airline industries as well as representatives of supply chain partners from more than 50 countries.
K H Chang of Evergreen International Corporation delivered the welcome address. He thanked business partners and all employees for working hand in hand with Evergreen Group for the past 50 years and expressed his gratitude to the general public for the support and encouragement. He encouraged all Evergreen staff to remain true to Dr Chang’s values, keep pace with the times, and work together toward achieving the next milestone—a centennial anniversary.
Evergreen Group evolved from its operation in marine transportation. Dr Chang established Evergreen Marine Corporation on September 1, 1968. In the early years, the company encountered numerous hurdles, such as the fire that ravaged Ever Island, a lack of lending support from financial institutions and competitive monopoly of freight conferences. All these obstacles were overcome under Dr Chang’s leadership and with the ‘Evergreen Spirit” embodied in all his employees.
In 1972, Evergreen launched Taiwan’s first Far East-Middle East liner service, helping local shippers transport cargoes to the Middle East region. In 1979, it opened the Far East to Europe full container service as an independent carrier, breaking the monopoly of the Far Eastern Freight Conference. In 1984, Evergreen launched unprecedented two-way, round-the-world container services. This established Evergreen as the world’s largest container shipping line in 1985. Today, it remains one of the leading brands in global shipping.
After building a solid foundation in shipping industry, Dr Chang sought to expand Evergreen’s transportation service into the airline industry. On the 20th anniversary of Evergreen Marine, he announced his plan to invest and build the first privately owned airline in Taiwan, EVA Air.
Dr Chang once said, “Although it will not be possible for EVA Air to grow to be the biggest airline in the world due to the restrictions of air traffic rights, EVA has to be the safest and best airline in the world, following the example of Evergreen Marine in the shipping industry.”
In addition to marine and air transportation, Evergreen Group has developed into a global conglomerate across sea, land and air.
