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“In a rapidly growing market where competition is fierce, we are very pleased to have been able to count on the participation of a record number of Québec companies who, thanks to many networking opportunities made possible in large part by Aéro Montréal, were able to seize the opportunity to showcase their capabilities and start new discussions that will undoubtedly reap benefits in the months and years ahead,” said Suzanne M. Benoît, president of Aéro Montréal.
The 45-person Québec delegation had a strong presence at Québec’s booth, where Aéro Montréal coordinated activities throughout the duration of the show. Some 140 networking meetings took place in the meeting spaces specially designed for this purpose to facilitate making contact with potential foreign partners. Fourteen companies also took the opportunity to exhibit their know-how and benefit from impromptu networking sessions made possible by the impressive flow of visitors.
The strong ministerial presence at the booth also had a positive impact, allowing for progress to be made in high-level economic diplomacy. Jacques Daoust, Minister of Economy, Innovation and Export Trade of Québec, made several major announcements, including the granting of financial support totaling more than $1 million to Québec companies RTI Claro and Sinters America. Montréal International announced the establishment in Montréal of the Canadian headquarters of Tech Mahindra and LTA Aerostructures. These companies will create nearly 500 jobs over three years.
Aéro Montréal took the opportunity to disclose that the first cohort of Walloon companies selected to participate in the MACH Initiative have just completed audits for establishing their MACH performance labels. These audits confirmed that the needs of foreign companies are similar to those of Québec companies and that the model of the Initiative and its Framework for Excellence can be used without any problems in other parts of the world.
Aéro Montréal also signed a collaboration framework agreement with the Italian Aerospace and Defence Industry Association (AIAD). This agreement aims to initiate privileged relations between the two groups, increase the exchange of information on innovation and optimization of the supply chain, and foster international monitoring. AIAD is the Federation, member of Confindustria, which represents Italian companies in aerospace, defense and security. The organization is making a major contribution to the development of the sector’s plans that will be developed by defence organizations and/or other Italian government authorities involved in research or innovation.
Denis Lebel, Minister of Infrastructure, Communities and Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Québec, also announced grants totaling $1.375 million to two Québec companies: Avior Integrated Products Inc. and Alta Precision. The arrival in Montréal of French company FusiA was also announced by Montréal International during the same press conference.
Finally, the two flagship events organized by Aéro Montréal as part of the air show, the welcome cocktail and international networking dinner, were huge successes, attracting respectively 95 and 145 participants.
The cluster president concluded her stay in London by saying: “It’s by combining our efforts with SMEs and the governments of Québec and Canada that we can strengthen our position in the global aerospace market and this week that is exactly what we managed to do. Upon our return, we will get to work to ensure this success will be repeated at the Paris Air Show, which will take place in June 2015.”
