Italy is making a strong showing at SISTEP 2026, held from September 9 to 11 at the Casablanca International Fair and Exhibition Center (OFEC), with a delegation of around ten Italian companies specializing in foundry, metallurgy, industrial automation, robotics, artificial intelligence and energy efficiency. Led by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA-ICE), in partnership with the Italian Association of Foundry Suppliers (AMAFOND), the delegation aims to strengthen industrial relations between Morocco and Italy, promote technology and know-how transfer, and identify new opportunities for business partnerships and co-industrialization.
Italy’s participation in SISTEP 2026 goes well beyond a conventional trade-show presence. It reflects a broader ambition to build stronger links between the Moroccan and Italian industrial ecosystems, particularly in high-value-added sectors where the two countries have significant potential for complementarity.
This presence comes at a time when Morocco is consolidating its position as a regional industrial and production platform, driven by the rapid development of the automotive, aerospace, mechanical, metalworking, energy and manufacturing industries.
Italy, for its part, has a highly diversified industrial base made up of specialized companies with recognized expertise in machinery, industrial equipment and advanced production technologies. This creates strong potential for cooperation between Italian technological know-how and Morocco’s growing industrial capabilities.
A showcase for Italian industrial excellence
At the heart of this participation is the ITA-ICE pavilion, designed as a showcase for Italian expertise in foundry technologies and equipment. Coordinated by ITA-ICE with the support of AMAFOND, the delegation brings together ten companies covering several complementary links in the industrial value chain: 2A S.p.A., specializing in the design and production of die-cast aluminium components; C.M. Surface Treatment S.r.l., which develops blasting, shot-blasting and surface-treatment machines; CIME Crescenzi Induction Melting, specializing in electric induction furnaces and melting and casting solutions; ENERCON S.r.l., active in extraction, filtration and energy-recovery systems for industrial environments; EUROMAC S.r.l., a manufacturer of moulding lines, core-making machines, and metal casting and treatment systems; GEFOND S.r.l., a provider of turnkey solutions, process optimization and thermoregulation systems for aluminium foundries; IDRA S.r.l., specializing in the engineering and production of die-casting systems for aluminium and magnesium components; J.M.L. Italy, a supplier of equipment and installations for sand preparation and treatment, core-making and foundry processes; PRIMAFOND S.r.l., specializing in machines and installations for core production using various moulding processes; and TECNOPRES S.r.l., a manufacturer of trim presses for finishing operations on die-cast parts.
This Italian presence therefore offers a particularly comprehensive technological portfolio, ranging from metal melting to moulding, core-making, surface treatment, extraction and filtration, as well as finishing operations and the automation of foundry processes.
Artificial intelligence, digitalization and automation are also increasingly central to this technological offering, at a time when industrial competitiveness depends more than ever on the ability to control production costs, improve quality, reduce energy consumption and increase productivity.
This positioning is particularly relevant to Morocco, which is seeking to upgrade its industrial base, increase local value creation and strengthen the competitiveness of its manufacturing ecosystem.
B2B meetings at the heart of the Italian strategy
Beyond the exhibition of machinery and technologies, the Italian delegation has placed B2B business meetings at the center of its participation in SISTEP 2026.
Organized directly at the Italian pavilion, these meetings brought together Italian companies with Moroccan manufacturers, industrial operators, investors, buyers and potential business partners in order to identify concrete opportunities for cooperation.
The B2B sessions were chaired by His Excellency Francesco Capechi, Consul General of Italy in Casablanca, in the presence of Mr. Abdessamad El Bouadili, President of the Moroccan Foundry Association (AFOM).
The institutional dimension given to these meetings reflects the importance Italy attaches to strengthening economic and industrial relations with Morocco. It also highlights the strategic role of the foundry sector as a potential new area for cooperation between the two countries.
For the companies involved, these meetings provide a direct channel to better understand the Moroccan market, identify industrial requirements and establish relationships with potential clients and partners.
The objective is not simply to sell equipment, but to explore opportunities for technology partnerships, technical cooperation, skills transfer and, potentially, joint industrial projects.
Andrea Todeschini: focusing on areas of convergence
Andrea Todeschini, President of AMAFOND, highlighted the importance of the initiative in giving new momentum to economic and industrial relations between Morocco and Italy.
According to Todeschini, the development of bilateral relations should increasingly focus on industrial niches and areas of convergence offering high added value to both countries.
Foundry is one of these areas. Italy has accumulated decades of expertise in the production of machinery, equipment and technologies for foundries, while Morocco is rapidly expanding its industrial capacity and its demand for advanced production equipment.
This complementarity creates significant opportunities in technology transfer, training, technical assistance, automation and industrial process optimization.
Nearly €4.7 billion in bilateral trade
The industrial momentum is taking place against the backdrop of growing trade relations between Morocco and Italy.
According to data available from the Italian Trade Agency, Italian exports to Morocco reached approximately €2.707 billion during the first eleven months of 2025, compared with €2.461 billion during the same period of 2024.
In the opposite direction, Italian imports from Morocco stood at around €1.995 billion, compared with €1.617 billion a year earlier.
Total bilateral trade therefore approached €4.7 billion during the first eleven months of 2025, compared with just over €4 billion during the comparable period of 2024.
Machinery and industrial equipment are particularly important in this relationship. Italian exports of machinery and equipment to Morocco reached approximately €452 million during the first eleven months of 2025, confirming Italy’s position as an important supplier of industrial technologies and equipment to the Moroccan market.
These figures highlight the considerable potential of the Moroccan market for Italian machinery manufacturers and specialized technology companies.
Foundry: a sector with strong growth potential
Foundry is particularly strategic within this framework.
The expansion of Morocco’s automotive industry and its supplier ecosystem, combined with the development of mechanical and metalworking industries, is generating growing demand for advanced production technologies.
Moroccan manufacturers increasingly require equipment capable of improving production accuracy, increasing output, reducing material and energy consumption and enhancing the quality of industrial components.
This is precisely where the expertise of the Italian companies participating in SISTEP 2026 becomes particularly relevant.
The challenge is no longer simply to purchase a machine or production line. It is increasingly about providing integrated solutions that enable manufacturers to improve productivity, reduce waste, optimize energy consumption, strengthen quality and increase competitiveness.
This evolution is gradually transforming a traditional equipment-supplier relationship into a more integrated industrial partnership.
Primafond and IDRA seek to accelerate their Moroccan business
The participation of companies already familiar with the Moroccan market further illustrates this momentum.
Francesco Nardotto of Primafond welcomed the Italian participation at SISTEP 2026, viewing the exhibition as an opportunity to strengthen relations with Moroccan industrial players and identify new business opportunities in the foundry sector.
For Paolo Romani of IDRA, whose company is already active in the Moroccan market, participation in the exhibition represents an opportunity to give a new impetus to business and take existing commercial relationships to the next level.
For these companies, establishing a local production facility is not necessarily an immediate objective. The priority is first to increase business volumes, expand their network of clients and partners, and strengthen commercial and technological exchanges with Moroccan manufacturers.
However, the growth of bilateral business flows could gradually create favorable conditions for new investments, the development of local services, skills transfer and the creation of greater added value and employment in both countries.
Luigi D’Aprea: significant room to deepen economic relations
For Luigi D’Aprea, Director of the ITA-ICE Office in Casablanca, the Italian presence at SISTEP 2026 comes at a time when economic relations between Morocco and Italy still offer significant room for further development, particularly in high-value-added industrial and technological sectors.
This vision reflects the need to diversify and upgrade the nature of bilateral trade and move progressively from conventional commercial exchanges toward deeper cooperation based on technology, investment, industrial services and innovation.
Italy has a broad industrial base made up of highly specialized companies operating in sophisticated technological niches. Morocco, meanwhile, offers an increasingly competitive production and logistics platform, as well as a strategic geographical position providing access to European, African and international markets.
This combination represents one of the strongest foundations for industrial complementarity between the two countries.
From trade to jointly creating industrial value
The strong Italian participation in SISTEP 2026 reflects a gradual transformation in the nature of Morocco-Italy economic relations.
The objective is no longer simply to increase trade volumes, but also to raise the added value generated by bilateral exchanges through technology, innovation, knowledge transfer and the development of industrial value chains.
In this respect, SISTEP provides an important platform for connecting Moroccan manufacturers with Italian technology suppliers and opening direct channels of dialogue on industrial requirements, investment opportunities and potential partnerships.
The combination of Italian institutional representation through ITA-ICE and the Consulate General of Italy in Casablanca, together with Moroccan professional representation through the Moroccan Foundry Association, gives the initiative a strategic dimension that goes beyond short-term commercial meetings.
Morocco is seeking technologies capable of upgrading its industrial base and strengthening competitiveness, while Italian companies are looking for new markets and reliable partners capable of supporting their international expansion.
Between these two objectives, foundry and advanced industrial technologies stand out as areas with significant potential for deeper cooperation in the years ahead.
The Italian presence at SISTEP 2026 therefore offers much more than a showcase for the strength of Made in Italy in industrial technology. It reflects a growing ambition to build a deeper industrial partnership with Morocco based on innovation, technology transfer, business development and the creation of value and employment in both countries
