Mr. Moulay Hafid Elalamy, Minister of Industry, Trade, Investment and the Digital Economy, Mr. Cédric Gautier, President of STELIA Aerospace, laid the first stone of the group’s new plant in Casablanca on December 2nd 2016. Covering an area of over 15,000 m2, this plant will complete the existing infrastructures of STELIA Morocco. Eventually, 400 to 500 employees will ensure the assembly of complex aeronautical sub-assemblies, such as A320 and A330 fuselage elements, bringing the total number of employees Stelia Aerospace in Morocco to more than 800. On this occasion, Mr. Elalamy welcomed the development of the implementation of a major global player in aerostructures and stressed that the Stelia Aerospace project is conveniently in line with the spirit of the Industrial Acceleration Plan 2014 -2020. “The group's activity centred on the assembly of aerostructures will positively contribute to the rise of the ecosystem "Assembly", launched last July as part of the new industrial strategy”, he added. Mr Gautier said that the Group's new unit will support the growth and the higher rates of production for STELIA Aerospace, thus representing an additional competitive cluster. Apart from STELIA Aerospace's role in the "Assembly" ecosystem, Mr Elalamy also stressed the desire of both parties to work together to meet all the prerequisites for structuring around the Group a global ecosystem that would unite a number of subcontractors and suppliers. This formal foundation stone laying ceremony was presided over by Mr. Moulay Hafid Elalamy, Minister of Industry, Trade, Investment and the Digital Economy and Mr. Cédric Gautier, President of STELIA Aerospace, in the presence of Mr. Abdellatif LOUDIYI, Minister delegate in charge National Defense, Mr Mamoune Bouhdoud, Minister delegate in charge of small businesses and the integration of the informal sector, Mr Khalid Safir, Wali of the Casablanca-Settat Region, Governor of the Casablanca Prefecture and Hamid Benbrahim El Andaloussi, President of the GIMAS. STELIA Aerospace is a wholly owned subsidiary of the AIRBUS Group, created on 1 January 2015 from the merger of Aerolia and Sogerma. It has a turnover of 1,8 billion euros and 6,100 employees worldwide, making it a world leader in the fields of aerostructure and seats for pilots and first-class and business class passengers. STELIA Aerospace has had a presence in Morocco since 1951, via its subsidiary Maroc Aviation, now STELIA Aerospace Maroc, which specialises in manufacturing composite, assembling complex metal sub-assemblies, and maintaining and supporting avionics equipment.