Two-day Hajj and Umrah Fair-2022 begins Thursday

Staff Reporter :
A two-day ‘National Conference on Hajj and Umrah Management-2022 and Hajj and Umrah Fair’ will start from Thursday with the participation of 152 stalls and pavilions in Banga-bandhu Inter-national Conference Center (BICC) in the city’s Agargaon.
Hajj Agencies Associa-tion of Bangladesh (HAAB) is organizing the conference and fair with the support of the Religious Affairs Ministry.
HAAB President Shahadat Hossain Taslim said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to inaugurate the national conference and Hajj and Umrah Fair connecting virtually from her office at 10am on Thursday.
“Two separate seminars would be organized in the conference on ‘Hajj and Umrah Management: Achievements and Actions needed’ and ‘e-Hajj Management and Route to Makkah Initiatives’,” the HAAB President told reporters during a press conference in its Nayapaltan head office on Tuesday.
“The fair is being organized to display the entire Hajj and Umrah Management system for the mass people, so that they can be connected with the Hajj agencies directly to avert fraudulence of the middlemen. It would help the pilgrims in all extends including saving their money and safer pilgrimage,” Shahadat Hossain Taslim said.
He said that the Hajj agencies, financial organizations and relevant authorities will have separate stalls in the fair. The fair will remain open for the pilgrims from 10am to 8pm every day. Hajj agents and government officials will and the participants will describe the pilgrims about their initiatives to ensure smooth and safer pilgrimage for the pilgrims, he added.
Regarding e-Hajj Management, he said the Saudi government has developed its entire Hajj management system and under the e-Hajj management system, all facilities would be ensured.
The Hajj agents will have no need to go to Saudi Arabia now for hiring houses. They will be able to rent houses from Bangladesh. The house rents will be deducted from their IBAN (international bank account number).
Under the agreement signed between the two countries on November 13, the entire immigration procedures of the pilgrims will be completed here in Bangladesh. So, the pilgrims will have no need to wait in the airports of Saudi Arabia. They will get their transports in the airport and baggage at their houses. The Saudi Arabian authorities will ensure it, Taslim said.
Regarding the age barrier of the pilgrims, the HAAB President said that they haven’t yet confirmed the matter. Same time, the quota was not yet allocated. These issues will be finalized during signing the Hajj agreement. This year, the Hajj agreement between the countries might be signed in December.