South African defence industrial group Denel and China's Poly Technologies signed a partnership agreement at the Africa Aerospace and Defence exhibition in Centurion, just south of Pretoria, on Friday. This agreement is "to develop our joint Denel/Poly Technologies maritime business in South Africa and the region", Denel Integrated Systems and Maritime division CEO Ismail Dockrat told the media attending the event.

"We have some very exciting ideas we want to pursue together," he added, pointing out that Poly Technologies has very strong experience in the maritime sector and Denel very strong experience in systems integration. This agreement, he affirmed, would take the existing relationship between the two groups to another level.

The agreement was signed by Denel acting group CEO Zwelakhe Ntshepe and Poly Technologies president (and Poly Group VP) Eric Wang. Neither of them addressed the media.

In an exclusive interview with Engineering News Online, Dockrat gave some more detail on the agreement. "This partnership includes shipbuilding, ship repair and marine services. Ship repair will be in South Africa. Where the ships would be built will depend on the contract. But our partnership is based on localisation as much as possible and our partners are committed to this, to maximize the maritime supply chain in South Africa. Clients could be our own navy and other navies in the Africa region."

He identified three major benefits the partnership with the Chinese could bring to South Africa. "First, we need investment in our shipbuilding and repair industry. The Chinese are willing to invest."

"Second, we think the Chinese have excellent ship design and repair industrial know-how and we want to benefit from this. Third, the Chinese will be very important to get access to the markets. The Chinese have global relationships and relationships with Africa. With our own relationships in Africa, that makes for a very powerful joint value proposition."