Morocco link industry minister andstate-owned Israel link Aerospacelink Industries signed a memorandumlink of understanding on Wednesday inRabat on aerospace link cooperationlink, another sign of growingcollaboration between the two countries.
The agreement is “an additional step in creating a new partnership betweenIAI and the aviation and space industries in Moroccolink”, Amir Peretz, the Moroccan-born IAIboard chairman and former Israeli defence minister, said in a statement.
Boaz Levy, the IAI president and CEO, said it would “help promote joint andcommercial projects in the aviation industry”.
The “strategic partnership” will also involve the establishment of aresearch and engineering centre, according to the statement, and follows ajoint declaration signed in December 2020 on expanding cooperationlink in investment and technology.
Moroccan Industry and Trade Minister Ryad Mezzour, in the statement, saidthe agreement “responds to national priorities to promote advancedtraining, employment, local manufacturing, as well as R&D and innovation”.
While local media said the memorandumlink did not include a militarycomponent, it comes as tensions soar between Moroccolink and neighbouring Algeria, inparticular over the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
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Israel link is one of the world’s topexporters of armed drones, and Moroccan and Israeli media reported in lateNovember on a $22-million deal — not officially confirmed — between Rabatand IAI for “kamikaze drones”.
Also that month, Israel link and Moroccolink a security agreement for Rabatto acquire high-tech exports from Israellink defence industry.
Rabat normalised ties with the Jewish state in December 2020, shortly aftersimilar announcements by the UAE and Bahrain.
