Pakistan joins International Olive Council, showcases rapidly expanding olive sector

Pakistan has taken its seat for the first time as a Permanent Member of the International Olive Council at the 123rd Session held in Lisbon, Portugal.

Federal Minister for National Food Security & Research Rana Tanveer Hussain led the Pakistan delegation to attend the UN International Olive Council (IOC) meeting. The minister was accompanied by Ambassador of Pakistan to Portugal Aisha Farooqui, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) stated.

Following Pakistan’s membership of the International Olive Council in May 2026, Pakistan was invited to take its seat at the 123rd meeting of the Council, together with 27 other olive oil producing nations.

The MoFA said Pakistan was warmly welcomed to the IOC by the executive director, the chairman of IOC and by all the member countries.

The minister for national food security and research in his statement thanked the IOC and reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to take forward the objectives and goals of the IOC.

Tanveer briefed the council members on Pakistan’s growing olive sector with over seven million olive trees cultivated across 55,669 acres and olive clusters expanding across the country.

“A complete “farm-to-fork” value chain has been established through 51 olive oil extraction units, modern processing facilities, nurseries, weather stations, and four IOC-aligned quality laboratories,” he said.

The minister said Pakistan has also achieved self-sufficiency in producing certified olive saplings domestically. These advances have earned international recognition, including a Silver Award at the New York International Olive Oil Competition (NYIOOC) last year.

He said Pakistan looks forward to play its cooperative and positive role towards sustainable, and climate resilient development of the global olive oil and table olives sector.