Germany's Thyssenkrupp promises Aussie submarine jobs

Staff, The Economic Times
30 November 2015
Germany's Thyssenkrupp could create up to 3,000 jobs in Australia if selected to build a new fleet of submarines there, its executive in charge of the project told Reuters.
Thyssenkrupp is competing with France's state-controlled naval contractor DCNS and a state-backed Japanese consortium for the contract, which is worth an estimated $36 billion and could be the biggest in the industrial and steel group's history.
We made a very solid bid," said Hans Christoph Atzpodien, the board member of Thyssenkrupp's Industrial Solutions division with responsibility for naval operations, after the Essen-based company said on Monday it had submitted its offer.
He declined to discuss details of the bid but said Thyssenkrupp would put in a fixed-price offer if selected to continue to the next phase of the process. It expects one of the bidders to be selected to pursue exclusive talks in the first half of 2016.
The German and French bidders have said they will make a full build in Australia part of their offer, prompting Japan to say it would match its European rivals and build the fleet entirely at Australian shipyards.
Atzpodien said Thyssenkrupp envisaged creating 2,000-3,000 new jobs if it won the contract. He estimated that the same number again could be created at suppliers drawn from a pool of around 400 firms. He said Thyssenkrupp could make Australia a regional base for its Asia-Pacific operations, including the design of frigates.
"There will be great demand for armaments in the Pacific region in the next years. China will upgrade its navy. That will strengthen demand in the region," Atzpodien said.