Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Spain, Jahongir Ganiev, met with the executive director of the International Olive Council (IOC) Abdellatif Khedira and the head of the department for international cooperation of this organization, Munir Fourati, Dunyo news agency reported.

The International Olive Council was established in 1959 on the basis of the 1956 international agreement on olive oil. The founders of the council were 11 Mediterranean countries in Europe and Africa: Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Great Britain, Israel, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia. The headquarters of the Council is in Madrid. The main executive body is the plenary session of the Council, which is held annually in the fall. Today, the organization unites about 80 percent of producers and 98 percent of exporters of olive oil and olives.

The purpose of the meeting in Madrid was to discuss the upcoming visit to Uzbekistan of the head of the International Olive Council, George Svanidze, during which the possible entry of the republic into the IOC will be considered.

As A. Khedira noted at the talks, Uzbekistan may well become a full member of the organization, as it has great potential for growing olives and producing olive oil. The climatic conditions of a number of regions of the country make it possible to establish industrial cultivation of olives, and if there is an appropriate production base, Uzbekistan, over time, can also arrange the production of olive oil.

The Spanish side also informed about the main goals of the organization. These include ensuring fair competition and international cooperation to coordinate the development of production technologies, storage and marketing of olive oil and its derivatives, the development of agricultural production of the olive industry and improving product quality, promoting the growth of consumption of olive oil, oilcake and table olives, facilitating the exchange of information in order to develop technologies for growing olive trees and their protection against genetic modification, protecting the environment from the consequences of Itijah olive industry and the destruction of olive oil production waste.

The International Olive Council also provides assistance in the field of education and advanced training of specialized specialists in the field of agriculture.