IOTEX 2008 brings world olive producers to Jordan

Around 100 merchants from Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Italy, Greece, France Turkey, Cyprus, Libya, Tunis, attended through 84 companies under one roof to discuss the machinations of olives and olive oil business.

The organizers, Petra Events Management, Comcra (Communications Craftsmen), Amman Chamber of Industry and the Jordan Olive Products Exporters Association (JOPEA), stated the IOTEX 2008 is the start of very important event to bring industry stakeholders together which will now be held on an annual basis in Jordan.

“The strategic location of Jordan is crucial for these kinds of international gathering to bring people together and meet, discuss and cooperate in palatial and relaxed surroundings to make business and improve their growth potential,” says Mazen Kawar, director of Petra Events Management, a division of Petra Tours, one of the organizers of the exhibition and which received a special plaque in appreciation of its support in the exhibit.

As well as being largely a business-to-business event, the three-day exhibition (22-24 March) was seen successful by both the traders and the visitors, estimated at 1000 by the organizers but could have been a lot more as Jordan could be regarded as a nation of olive growers because 34%, 1.2m hectares, of the total cultivated area is of olive trees.

Under the theme of technology and taste, IOTEX 2008 had a number of foras, workshops to discuss the state of the olive oil industry, introduce agricultural best practices, waste management and quality control in the process of oil pressing. This year organizers had an olive oil tasting competition to benchmark different types of olives.

Through IOTEX, Jordan wants to improve the mechanization of its olive oil industry ranked as the number 8 producer of olive and olive oil in the world at an annual average of 190,000 tons from 15 million tress reflecting the different types and varieties of olives that include Nabali, Rasii, Rommi, Nassoohi and Kalamat and reflecting a vibrant international industry.

“There is a growing demand for olives and olive oil through out the world…we compete with each other to enter markets, but it is to our advantage to work in partnership so we can learn from each other’s experiences, says JOPEA Chairman Musa Saket.