Tunisia seeks to bring to 150 number of companies operating in aerospace industry

Tunisia seeks, in its action plan related to aerospace industry, to increase the number of companies operating in this area from 50 now to 150 by 2015, Minister of Industry and Technology Mohamed Lamine Chakhari said Monday. “The aim is to double the number of jobs for university graduates by bringing it up from 6,000 jobs to,” 10,000 underlined the minister at the opening of works of the 3rd edition of the Tunisia Aerospace Meetings held from September 24 to 27, 2012 in Tunis. To ensure the success of this action plan, Minister of Investment and International Co-operation Riadh Bettaieb, said action will be focused on training, saying that nearly 5,000 persons, including engineers, senior technicians and qualified operators will receive training in aeronautics in the next years. According to Mr. Gaby Lopez, President of the Tunisian Association of Aerospace and Aviation Industries (GITAS), Tunisia has a strong potential, allowing to develop this industry, particularly thanks to specialised and competent workforce. The number of graduates of universities and training centres specialised in aeronautics reached 65,000 and 35,000 students, respectively. Moreover, 4,500 engineers and senior technicians are trained annually in aerospace industry