The four-day sixth International Hajj Conference and Exhibition opened at 10am on Sunday, 8 November, at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia. Held under the patronage of King Salman bin Abdulaziz and running to 11 November, it brings together delegates from more than 150 countries and more than 520 government, private and non-profit organisations.
Bangladesh is represented by Religious Affairs Minister Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad and senior ministry officials. According to Barta24, Hajj quotas will be set and bilateral Hajj agreements signed at the conference.
The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah organised it with the Pilgrim Experience Program, to finish preparations for the coming Hajj season early and raise the standard of services. Its theme is From Makkah to the World. More than 15 zones over 67,000 square metres show airlines, transport, housing, health care and technology providers, and an Awareness and Training Forum has been added for the first time.
Ministry spokesman Dr Ghassan Alnuaimi told the Saudi Press Agency that the five earlier conferences produced more than 1,850 service agreements, over 310 sessions and 250 workshops, and drew more than 570,000 visitors. The real measure of success, he said, is turning talks into contracts, implementation plans and better services.
In the Innovation Zone, a hackathon and a Technology Oasis, inventors, entrepreneurs and technology firms are meeting the organisations that run Hajj services directly. Trip planning, crowd management, getting around the holy sites and access to information and services are the main areas where technology is being pitched.
Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Awqaf has its own pavilion on using waqf assets to serve pilgrims, with agreements and memoranda planned during the event. Under Islamic law a waqf is property dedicated permanently, for the sake of God, to religious or charitable use; it cannot be sold, transferred or inherited.
Photo: Ali Mansuri / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)
Source: Barta24
Comments
(0)