The Ministry of Industry and Trade organized, on October 5, at the Institute of Aeronautics Professions in Nouaceur province, near Casablanca, an awareness day to introduce young people to aeronautical professions. About fifty students discovered aeronautical professionals through different fun activities throughout the day.
This initiative is organized in partnership with the province of Nouaceur, home to the national platform of the aeronautics industry, the manufacturer Boeing, the Group of Moroccan Aerospace Industries (GIMAS), the U.S. Embassy in Morocco, and the NGO ANAIS.
The event was attended by Mr. Abdallah Chater, Governor of Nouaceur, Mr. Kevin Millison, Vice President of Finance of Boeing Supply Chain, and Mr. Karim Cheikh, President of GIMAS.
“Under the enlightened leadership of His Majesty the King, may God assist him, the international influence of the Moroccan aerospace ecosystem is now a reality. Its development prospects continue to grow and the challenges it faces are numerous,” said the Minister of Industry and Trade. He went on to add that “The challenge is to ensure our transition to Industry 4.0 and our positioning on complex processes with high added value. In this path to excellence, the human element remains one of the indispensable pillars and the strong link in the development of the local and national industry.”
“GIMAS has been involved in the training of young people for more than 10 years by creating the IMA (Institute of Aeronautical Professions). Moreover, GIMAS is a signatory, with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the General Confederation of Moroccan Companies (CGEM), of an important agreement for the training of 100,000 engineers, middle managers, and senior technicians,” said the President of GIMAS.
We continue to build strong relationships with our Moroccan suppliers and major aviation stakeholders thanks to the skills of the workforce and the quality of the products delivered to us. There is a great need for motivated and skilled employees to build the future and we intend to support many schools, in Nouaceur of course, but also throughout the country, to give students access to these opportunities,” Ihssane Mounir, Senior Vice President of commercial sales and marketing for Boeing.
“The aviation industry has become a key driver of economic growth in Morocco. Boeing and other U.S. companies understand the critical importance of investing in youth development to ensure that aviation and other industries can meet the needs of our increasingly interconnected and complex economies, and do so in a sustainable and equitable manner, drawing on the talents of our societies. That’s why we at the U.S. Embassy work so closely with our Moroccan partners to support STEM education,” said Stephen O’Dowd, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Morocco.
The press release indicated that over the next 20 years, 67,000 jobs are expected in the aviation sector in Africa and 2 million worldwide. This awareness day “is also part of the accelerated dynamics that the national aerospace industry and major technological changes in the sector that confirm the strategic positioning of the Kingdom in the global map of aerospace construction,” stated the same source.