Mr de Miguel stressed the importance of maintaining and preserving the accomplishments of this very specific agricultural sector, of avoiding market disruptions and of establishing excellent methods. Mr Aurand thanked Spain for its strong technical and scientific contributions to the different OIV commissions as well as for lending its expertise, which benefits the whole global vitivinicultural community.
The 16 participants of 8 different nationalities in this year's class will meet more than 500 wine sector professionals in 24 producer and/or consumer countries across 5 continents.
On this occasion, the Director General of the OIV, Jean-Marie Aurand, emphasised the importance of the network created over 25 years ago by this training programme, both with regard to the graduates and universities as well as the companies involved in this unique approach. He also reminded those present of the relevance of this international training programme in relation to the increased globalisation of wine markets.
More information on the OIV MSc in Wine Management: www.oivmsc.org/en/.
The conference brought together over 250 participants, mainly in the vitivinicultural sector. On this occasion, Jean-Marie Aurand gave a presentation on the situation of the world wine sector and its main developments. Australia is the 6th largest producer and 5th largest exporter in the world, with more than 60% of Australian production being exported.
During his visit, the Director General met with the representative for the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Travis Power (Assistant Secretary), as well as the Australian OIV delegate, Mr John Power, and the Australian OIV experts, Ms Creina Stockley (President of the "Safety and Health" Commission) and Tony Battaglene (President of the "Economic and Situational Analysis" Expert Group).
Under the patronage of both the OIV and the Union Internationale des Oenologues, this event brought together more than 3,200 wines from 28 countries, and is the most important international wine competition on the Asian continent.
Jean-Marie Aurand also took the opportunity to meet with the Korean authorities (the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health) to speak about the OIV and its work. His hosts were very receptive, and although their country's wine production industry is small, wine consumption is increasing rapidly.
As part of his trip, the Director General also flew to Japan, where he attended meetings with the President of the Japanese Society of Vitiviniculture, the Secretary General of the Japan Sommelier Association, the directors of the National Wine Agency, which reports to the Ministry of Economy, the directors of the Ministry of Agriculture and, finally, Mr Furukawa, a member of parliament sponsoring new draft legislation on wine.
All were very interested in the OIV and its work, as Japan is keen to develop its own wine production industry and has recently established its first ever Geographical Indication for a wine.
These encouraging meetings should be developed into ongoing relationships, in the context of closer ties with the OIV.
The Director General of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, Mr Jean-Marie Aurand, will present the first estimations of the vitivinicultural sector production on 23 October 2014.
To attend this press conference, journalists are kindly asked to send an email with their name and their professional contact details to press@oiv.int.
Date: Thursday 23 May 2014
Time: 11am
Location: International Organisation of Vine and Wine, (OIV), 18 Rue d'Aguesseau, Paris 75008 - Metro station Madeleine or Concorde [see map]