Casablanca-Settat: HM the King Chairs Presentation, Launch Ceremony of Project to Build Safran Group’s Landing Gear Production Factory

Casablanca – His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist Him, accompanied by HRH Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan, chaired on Friday at the Royal Palace in Casablanca the presentation and launch ceremony of the project to build a landing gear production factory for the Safran group in Nouaceur, a project that reinforces Morocco as a destination of choice and a true integrated industrial actor at the heart of the global economy.

Considered one of the largest manufacturing centers for landing systems in the world for “Safran Landing Systems,” the new industrial site, which will be located at the heart of the integrated industrial platform dedicated to aeronautics and space “Midparc” in Nouaceur, will endow the Kingdom with one of the most advanced industrial segments: precision machining, high-tech assembly, testing, certification, and advanced maintenance. Dedicated to the Airbus A320, this factory, which will be built to the highest state-of-the-art standards and equipped with modern and high-performance production tools, bears witness to the attachment that HM the King grants to Morocco’s industrial development and highlights the unprecedented industrial dynamic driven by the Sovereign to make the Kingdom a competitive industrial platform on a global scale. At the beginning of this ceremony, an institutional film was screened highlighting the trajectory of excellence undertaken by Morocco, under the impetus of HM the King, focused on modernization and industrial innovation, and having allowed the Kingdom, thanks to highly qualified human resources and top-tier industrial and logistical infrastructure, to assert itself as a global reference in the field of aeronautics. On this occasion, the Minister of Industry and Trade, Ryad Mezzour, delivered a speech before the Sovereign in which he affirmed that in two decades, Morocco, guided by the enlightened Vision of His Majesty the King, has risen to the rank of a world-reference aeronautical platform. In this Moroccan aeronautical epic, the Safran group, a partner of the Kingdom for over a quarter of a century, occupies a unique place, inasmuch as it has accompanied the move upmarket of the Moroccan aeronautical industry and its skills, assured Mezzour. This historic partnership is being confirmed and further strengthened thanks to the new-generation “Safran Landing Systems” factory, which will be developed on a land plot of over 7 hectares, he specified. For Mezzour, the manufacturing of landing gear systems in Morocco is proof of the Kingdom’s mastery of complex technologies and a new step towards consolidating the country’s industrial integration into global aeronautical value chains. This project also offers prospects for Moroccan young talents to shine, emphasized the minister, noting that 25,000 globally recognized talents are already powering the national aeronautics production lines. For his part, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Safran Group, Ross McInnes, recalled the launch, last October, under the presidency of HM the King, of the Safran aircraft engine industrial complex, saying he was delighted to continue with Morocco this “technological epic and to embark the Kingdom on a new adventure: that of the production of particularly critical on-board systems, namely landing gears.” It involves, according to McInnes, the creation of one of the largest factories in the world for equipment and landing gears, an industrial platform that will house high-technology processes and key expertise of the Group. “This will allow us to support the ramp-up of production for the Airbus A320 family and to prepare for the next generation of short- and medium-haul aircraft,” he explained, noting that this factory will play a major role in developing a resilient and agile industrial scheme, with short industrial routes, because it will be located in close geographic proximity to Safran’s current assembly sites and Airbus’s European assembly lines. This factory, which represents an investment of over 280 million euros, will create 500 jobs eventually and will be powered by 100% decarbonized energy, he said, noting that this project will also allow for attracting new suppliers in its wake within the Moroccan ecosystem. This new site is much more than an industrial investment, it reflects the importance that the Kingdom holds for our Group, emphasized McInnes, assuring that all this is made possible because the Group does not produce in Morocco – a strategic country for Safran – but with Morocco. Subsequently, HM King Mohammed VI, may God assist Him, chaired the signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding relating to the installation of the Safran group’s landing gear production factory in Nouaceur. It was signed by Ryad Mezzour, Minister of Industry and Trade, Karim Zidane, Minister Delegate in charge of Investment, Governance and Evaluation of Public Policies, and Ross McInnes, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Safran group. The world’s No. 1 leader in short- and medium-haul aircraft engine manufacturing and the 3rd largest global aeronautical player excluding aircraft manufacturers, the Safran group is further strengthening its presence in Morocco where it chose to establish itself 25 years ago, thus bearing witness to the rise in power of the Moroccan aeronautical base built thanks to the clear-sighted Vision and Leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.