Pakistan Establishes National Olive Council

Summary

The Pakistani gov­ern­ment is estab­lish­ing a National Olive Council to over­see all aspects of olive pro­duc­tion, includ­ing mar­ket­ing and export strate­gies. This ini­tia­tive aims to sup­port rural com­mu­ni­ties, expand eco­nomic oppor­tu­ni­ties, and improve the qual­ity of olive oil pro­duced in Pakistan.

The Pakistani min­is­ter for National Food Security & Research, Rana Tanveer Hussain, announced that a National Olive Council is being estab­lished to guide the sector’s rapid devel­op­ment.

The Council will over­see all aspects of olive pro­duc­tion, includ­ing mar­ket­ing, export strate­gies and long-term plan­ning for the grow­ing indus­try.

An offi­cial from the Ministry explained in an inter­view that pub­lic and pri­vate stake­hold­ers will par­tic­i­pate, with pri­or­i­ties includ­ing farmer sup­port, expanded research, oleo­tourism pro­mo­tion and events aimed at improv­ing national pro­duc­tion.

Officials added that the Council will help reach rural com­mu­ni­ties and expand eco­nomic oppor­tu­ni­ties in regions where agri­cul­ture remains the pri­mary liveli­hood.

Speaking at the Al Baraka Pakistan Olive Summit 2.0, a national event focused on sec­tor devel­op­ment, Rana Tanveer stated that Pakistan is actively pur­su­ing mem­ber­ship in the International Olive Council (IOC), the inter­gov­ern­men­tal body oper­at­ing under the aus­pices of the United Nations.

He said join­ing the IOC would sup­port Pakistan’s inte­gra­tion into inter­na­tional trade, research net­works and qual­ity frame­works essen­tial for the sector’s next phase of growth.

The mem­ber­ship effort aligns with ongo­ing work to adopt glob­ally rec­og­nized pro­duc­tion stan­dards through invest­ments in infra­struc­ture, research and devel­op­ment.

The announce­ment fol­lows recent meet­ings in which Pakistani and IOC offi­cials dis­cussed Pakistan’s IOC bid and eval­u­ated oppor­tu­ni­ties for coop­er­a­tion.

During the sum­mit, Rana Tanveer high­lighted that 6.3 mil­lion olive trees are now under cul­ti­va­tion across Pakistan, sup­ported by a series of national projects that con­tinue to expand tree plant­ing and farmer engage­ment.

Improving prod­uct qual­ity remains a cen­tral objec­tive as pro­duc­ers adopt mod­ern extrac­tion sys­tems and build a stronger cul­ture of high-qual­ity olive oil pro­duc­tion.

Thanks to national and inter­na­tional fund­ing, includ­ing a recent Italian ini­tia­tive that pro­vided €1.5 mil­lion for sec­tor devel­op­ment, dozens of new mills have opened in the past decade. Programs also help farm­ers mod­ern­ize oper­a­tions and train tech­ni­cians in advanced pro­cess­ing prac­tices.

These efforts are begin­ning to show results. At the 2025 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, Pakistan’s Loralai Olives secured a Silver Award for LO, its Arbequina mono­va­ri­etal.

The oil is pro­duced by grow­ers in Balochistan using mod­ern milling facil­i­ties installed through gov­ern­ment-backed ini­tia­tives.

Reacting to the award, Rana Tanveer said in May that ​“this global recog­ni­tion is a proud moment for every Pakistani and a val­i­da­tion of our Ministry’s long-stand­ing efforts to build a self-reliant agri­cul­ture sec­tor. Loralai’s vic­tory is Pakistan’s vic­tory.”

He added that the achieve­ment is a direct result of the Olive Cultivation Initiative, launched in 2012, which pro­vided cer­ti­fied saplings, extrac­tion units, stor­age and bot­tling infra­struc­ture and train­ing in qual­ity assur­ance, brand­ing and export readi­ness.

Noting Pakistan’s €4.5 bil­lion annual imports of edi­ble oil, the Minister said the NYIOOC result ​“proves that we have the land, cli­mate and tal­ent to reverse that trend.”

Nearly one hun­dred olive-related star­tups have received gov­ern­ment sup­port as part of a broader devel­op­ment ini­tia­tive.

“We are build­ing a new nar­ra­tive, from import depen­dency to export excel­lence. Loralai Olives is just the begin­ning. We will con­tinue to sup­port farm­ers, entre­pre­neurs and inno­va­tors who are trans­form­ing Pakistan’s agri­cul­ture,” he said.

“We dreamed of Pakistan being rec­og­nized among the lead­ing olive-pro­duc­ing nations. To achieve that, it was clear that a top-class, inter­na­tion­ally com­pet­i­tive brand was nec­es­sary,” Loralai Olives co-founder Shaukat Rasool told Olive Oil Times after the NYIOOC award.

The IOC has invited the Pakistani min­is­ter to par­tic­i­pate in World Olive Day cel­e­bra­tions on November 20 in Córdoba, Spain.