Provence Promotion Preparing its Visit to Helitech 2014

Provence Promotion will be attending the international Helitech show being held this year in Amsterdam from October 14 to 16. Unique in the helicopter market, this annual event is a benchmark in Europe, bringing together major manufacturers and numerous professionals from fields such as mechanical engineering, electronics, engines, embedded systems, telecommunications and transport. More than 5600 visitors are expected to attend.   

150 exhibitors have stands reserved 

Mainly from Europe, but including exhibitors from the United States, Russia, New Zealand, Austria and Australia, they will be presenting their latest models of helicopters, services and equipment with an eye firmly on garnering new contracts.

Airbus Helicopters (ex-Eurocopter), the world leader based at Marignane on the Bouches-du-Rhône, will be showing its EC 145 T2, a new generation of helicopter designed for emergency intervention which has also proved its versatility, in particular in a military context thanks to its compactness and flexible cabin layout.  

Looking for new skills and partnerships

Involved as it is in the economic development of the aeronautics industry in the Marseille-Provence region, Provence Promotion has chosen this professional meet for some in-depth market research work. To answer the need for skills in the region, several B2B meetings have been scheduled and appointments made at selected stands.

To make the 2nd largest aeronautics hub in France take off, so to speak, major corporations, local government agencies, engineers, academic leaders and enterprises are today pooling their efforts to strengthen the ecosystem and regional offer.

Provence Promotion will be highlighting the entire catalog of major projects under way.

Subcontractors who today already enjoy optimum conditions for development will find new opportunities opening up for them (R&D, new markets…).

An investment schedule to boost innovation and growth

Within the next few years, several investment projects are programmed in the region.

As part of the Henri Fabre public-private project, the Marseille Provence Metropole Urban Community  (MPM) for example has committed €130 M to making available to businesses, by 2020, a 180-hectare site and 9000 sq. m. of floor space at the Les Florides Technoparc, which already houses the Histoires d’Entreprises enterprise incubator. 

The future Airbus Helicopters R&D center, a 20,000 sq.-m., high-tech building (€40 M in investment) will come on line in January 2016 and will bring together under one roof all the research staff working on the “Helicopter of the future”.

Dassault Systèmes for its part is launching the design of a future business park in Istres dedicated to aeronautics and focusing on simulation and measurement in partnership with the Pégase Competitive Cluster.

This forward momentum is propitious for inter-industry exchanges and creates a climate conducive to partnerships and the influx of new activities.

This ambition extends right across the Bouches-du-Rhône, with other equally-attractive projects coming to fruition, such as the modernization and relocation to Les Florides Technoparc of the pooled-resource platform Inovsys, as part of the PIA (Investment for the Future Program).

> To find out more about the aeronautics-sector opportunities  available in Marseille-Provence, contact Mr Stéphane GHIO, Manager du Pôle Prospection
Gsm : +33(0)6 85 90 60 16 - E-mail : s.ghio@provence-promotion.fr