A promotional conference for the EU-funded “Capacity Building of Personnel in Jordanian Olive Industry” TEMPUS Project was recently held at UJ. The project aims to develop the Jordanian olive sector; a very important sector of the Jordanian economy.

The project involves six Jordanian and four international partners: The University of Jordan, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Mutah University, Al-Balqa Applied University represented by Al-Huson University College, the Jordan Olive Products Exporters Association and the Jordanian Society for Sensory Evaluation of Food, University of Granada, Spain, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, University of Verona, Italy, and the Institute for Olive Tree & Subtropical Plants, Greece.

A training center will be established at UJ with two other branches; one in the northern part of the kingdom at Jordan University of Science and Technology and one in the southern part at Mutah University. Seminars and workshops will be held for olive farmers, table olive and olive mill personnel. Staff and graduate student exchange between partners also constitutes part of this project. A master program on olive production and technology will be established at UJ and EU universities staff will contribute in teaching and developing the courses.