In collaboration with the Italian Cooperation Office and the Ministry of Agriculture, the BZU Testing Laboratories Center (BZUTL) at BZU celebrated the graduation of olive mills owners on Thursday, 6 August 2009.  The owners received a training course that was organized by BZUTL for a period of two weeks in which fifteen trainees have participated.

In a welcome address, Dr. Aqel Abu-Qara', on behalf of BZUTL, thanked the trainees for their commitment to the training course that comes as part of a 3-year project on olive oil, conducted in cooperation with  the Italian Cooperation Office and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Dr. Ghassan Khatib, Vice President for Community Affairs, pointed to the importance of the University's concern to build cooperative relations with the Palestinian community, especially the cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture to support the olive oil sector as one of the pillars of the national economy.

Dr. Azzam Tabaileh, Deputy Minister of the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture, stated that the Ministry has been and continues to cooperate with BZU in various agricultural fields, such as pesticides and olive oil, hoping to advance Palestinian farmers and assist them in marketing their crops.

A representative of the Italian Cooperation, Mr. Ibrahim Mattar, called for supporting olive oil projects in Palestine, which will help improve the national economy, of which olive oil is vital part.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, certificates were distributed to the graduates.