Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT) has announced that it has contributed to the success of the recent Netherlands Trade Delegation to South Africa.
The visit was led by Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Frequin, Dutch Vice Minister for Transport and Mobility and Agriculture Minister Martijn van Dam, together with 65 Dutch companies.
It was the biggest trade delegation to South Africa in the history of the Dutch-South Africa relationship.
Sam Montsi, Chairman of DSCT, played an active part in proceedings, attending high level meetings and events, and welcoming senior delegates to the DSCT yard.
At that meeting DSCT was one of a select group of companies invited to give presentations to the ministerial group, who in turn offered suggestions on how the issues raised might be approached.
On 18 November 2015, DSCT was one of 80 companies represented at the official opening of the Garden of the Future by Mark Frequin.
An interactive exhibition, the garden uses scale models to show a variety of built-up landscapes, each representing different economic sectors of South Africa and telling the story of the successful Dutch–South African partnerships that exist in the Cape provinces.
Mr Montsi said: “It was a great honour to be closely involved in this top level trade delegation. As a South African yard with significant shareholding by a Dutch group, we could offer a dual-perspective on the strengths and potential of each nation and, we hope, the visit by many delegates to the yard demonstrated the benefits that can result when both countries’ business entities work together.”
Fact File: Damen Shipyards operates 32 shipbuilding and repair yards, employing 9,000 people worldwide. Damen has delivered more than 5,000 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers some 160 vessels annually to customers worldwide.
