First-ever hajj conference from Nov 17

The first-ever national level conference and fair on hajj and umrah management will be held in the capital from November 17.

The three-day conference will be held at the capital's Bangabandhu International Conference Center.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the conference virtually at 10:00am on Thursday.

Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) President M Shahadat Hossain Taslim disclosed this information at a press conference in a city hotel yesterday.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal; State Minister for Religious Affairs Faridul Haque Khan; State Minister for Civil Aviation M Mahbub Ali; and Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Bangladesh, among others, will also remain present at the inaugural ceremony of the conference.

Addressing the press conference, the HAAB president said Bangladesh is the 4th largest pilgrim-sending country in the world. The country also sends the highest number of pilgrims who perform hajj under private hajj management.

"About 96 percent of Bangladeshi hajj pilgrims and 100 percent umrah pilgrims go to Saudi Arabia under private management," he said.

"One of the main objectives of this conference is to provide hajj pilgrims with a proper understanding and awareness of the current technology-based hajj management and information about middlemen and scammers," added Shahadat.

Stating that most hajj pilgrims in Bangladesh are scattered in rural areas, Shahadat also said most institutional activities of hajj and umrah agencies are limited to Dhaka.

"Therefore, through this fair, one of the objectives is to create a field of familiarity with all the hajj agencies."

He informed that two seminars will be held to exchange detailed information about the "e-hajj system" and Makkah Route Initiative among passengers, hajj agencies and other stakeholders.