Booming olive harvests

An Italian olive production and export expert has stressed the potential for enhancing Egypt's production of olives from 4,000 tons to more than 30,000 tons annually, thanks to the high quality of the cultivated land and climatic conditions in the country.

These conditions are only found in the Mediterranean Basin, a factor which enhances Egypt's potential not only for olive oil production, but also its ability to make significant inroads into world markets.

Demand for olive oil has been steadily on the rise as people learn of its health benefits compared to substitutes on the market.

The Italian expert came to Egypt on a visit organised by the Egyptian Exporters Association (EXPOLINK).

The association is organising an intensive four-month programme for three olive oil experts in a bid to ensure Egypt's olive oil is of the required quality to compete on the world markets.

EXPOLINK director, Nagui Al-Fayyoumi, said that the Italian expert had also evaluated Egypt's production of olive oil in order to determine how best to develop it and boost its competitiveness on the world markets.