As airplane makers struggle to meet demand, Morocco wants to become a manufacturing hub

By SAM METZ
Associated Press

CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Moroccan officials are aiming to turn the country into an aviation hub, luring investors aiming to spread out their supply chains to more nations with available and affordable workers. The North African nation is vying for contracts with big manufacturers aiming to speed up production and deliver more planes to meet demand. Aerospace companies are outsourcing design, production and maintenance to countries from Mexico to Thailand. In Morocco, efforts to grow the country’s $2 billion-a-year aerospace industry are part of a years-long push to transform the largely agrarian economy through subsidizing manufacturers of planes, trains and automobiles.