MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/. Russia and South Africa plan to work together to develop and manufacture weapons and military equipment, Director of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev said on Thursday.

"There are some promising cooperation projects related to the joint development and manufacture of weapons and military equipment both for our countries’ national armed forces and in the interests of third countries," he told reporters.

Shugayev added that South Africa had the most developed military-industrial complex in Africa, and Russia was interested in cooperating with it, taking into account the level of bilateral relations and cooperation within the BRICS group.

Head of the Russian state arms dealer Rosoboronexport Alexander Mikheev earlier said that Russia’s African partners accounted for about one-third of the company’s order portfolio - over $14 bln (the total order portfolio is $55 bln).

On October 23-24, the resort city of Sochi is hosting the Russia-Africa Summit, co-chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egypt’s head of state Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The leaders of all 54 African countries have been invited to come. Eight major African integration associations and organizations are also involved in the event. On the summit’s sidelines, an economic forum is being held, which is attended by the continent’s heads of state, representatives of the business community and government agencies. TASS is the official photo host agency of the summit and economic forum.