MADRID: Saudi Arabia has joined the International Olive Council, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday. A ceremony was held to mark the occasion at the council’s headquarters in Madrid, Spain. Among those who attended were the Saudi ambassador to Spain, Azzam bin Abdulkarim Al-Qain, and the executive director of the IOC, Abdellatif Ghedira. During the ceremony, Al-Qain raised the Saudi flag and planted an olive tree in the Peace Garden of the council. Other officials present were Spain’s Minister of Agriculture Luis Planas, Jordan’s Minister of Agriculture and IOC President Khaled Hanifat, Tunisia’s Minister of Agriculture Mahmoud Elias Hamza, and several ambassadors of the member states of the council. The IOC is a UN-affiliated intergovernmental organization consisting of many countries around the world who seek to expand trade, standardize quality production, and enhance research, training and technology transfer.