Morocco is looking to become an aviation manufacturing hub by attracting investment to speed up aircraft production to meet global demand, AP reports. The country’s aerospace industry — which brings in USD 2 bn annually — plans to grow by subsidizing plane manufacturing, in addition to subsidies for train and vehicle manufacturing.

The demand is there: Boeing and Airbus have increasingly been outsourcing design, production and maintenance to countries from Mexico to Thailand, while the manufacturers that build components for their aircraft do the same, the news outlet reports.

Morocco’s in a good position: “Most of the big suppliers in Europe are struggling to get people to work in this industry. We don’t have that issue,” Morocco’s national carrier Royal Air Maroc’s CEO Abdelhamid Abbou said. French aviation manufacturer Safran Aircraft Engines sends Boeing 737s and Airbus 320s engines to a repair plant outside of Casablanca every six to eight years, and accounts for one of 130 companies having aviation components produced in the kingdom.

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