Morocco paves the way for domestic arms industry

Following the legal framework approved in August 2020 for a domestic arms industry, Morocco is now allocating land for interested manufacturers.

King Mohammed VI chaired a Council of Ministers meeting on June 1st, which adopted «a draft decree creating two defense industrial acceleration zones», according to a statement from the royal cabinet. These zones will be designated for «defense industries relating to defense and security materials and equipment, weapons and ammunition».

This move comes amidst plans by Israeli firm BlueBird Aero Systems to establish a drone production plant in Morocco. The company's CEO, Ronen Nadir, announced this in mid-April to Hebrew media, with a targeted launch «in the near future».

The November 2021 military cooperation agreement between Morocco and Israel included provisions for developing a domestic arms industry in Morocco with Israeli expertise. Notably, Morocco had expressed ambitions for such an industry even before normalizing relations with Israel in December 2020.