The Annual Meeting of the member countries of the RECOMED Mediterranean Olive Oil Cities Network, held in Greece (Kalamata), was successfully concluded on Saturday, 14 January 2023. At the meeting, the decision taken last October in Turkey was officially announced, according to which the Presidency of RECOMED for the next years was entrusted to its founding member “Routes of the Olive Tree”. George Karambatos, Executive Director of the Foundation, was unanimously elected as President, taking over the baton from the current President of RECOMED and the Associacion Espanola de Municipios del Olivo – AEMO (Spain).
The Mediterranean Olive Oil Cities Network RECOMED has been dynamically active in the Mediterranean since 2003, aiming at the dialogue between olive growing regions, the protection and promotion of olive cultivation and its cultural heritage, the promotion of gastronomic culture, Mediterranean food and local products.
This long-standing presence has favoured synergies between RECOMED member countries/cities and the implementation of projects aimed at promoting important olive-growing regions, such as the projects “Olive Tourism”, “Med Diet”, etc.
The participating countries in the new Board of Directors are:
PRESIDENCY: Cultural Foundation “Routes of the Olive Tree”, Greece Kalamata, Greece
A’ VICE-PRESIDENCY: Associazione Nazionale Città dell’Olio, Italy
B’ VICE PRESIDENCY COUNTRY: Associacion Espanola de Municipios del Olivo – AEMO (Spain)
SECRETARY: Camera Agricoltura di Didim, Bahattin Gokdemir, Turkey
TREASURY, FINANCIAL REPRESENTATIVE : Municipality of Koper, Slovenia
The meeting was welcomed by representatives of local stakeholders, on behalf of the municipality of Kalamata, the Deputy Mayor Mr. George Favas, the former Mayor of Kalamata Mr. Koutsoulis, Mr. P. Grekis (Messinia Chamber of Commerce), the President of OEBEM Mr. G. Kaperonis, Ms. Margarita Bovicelli, Honorary Consul of Italy in the South Peloponnese, Mr. D. Petropoulos (University of Peloponnese), Ms. I. Ravani (Environmental Education Centre of Kalamata), the Presidents of the Associations of Olive Growing Cities of Italy Mr. M. Sonnessa and Spain Ms. Lola Amo Camino.
In the context of the meeting, brief interventions were made by Ms. E. Georgakopoulou, Head of the Department of Agricultural Economy & Veterinary of the Prefecture of Messinia on the topic “Olive cultivation in Messinia, current situation, problems, prospects”, Mr. M. Antonopoulos, President of the Agricultural Cooperative of Kalamata on “9th Festival of Olive Oil & Table Olive of Kalamata” and Ms. M. Katsilieri, Cultural Programme Manager of the “Routes of the Olive Tree” Foundation on “Olive groves of the Mediterranean, a cultural landscape with added value for utilization”.