Chairman of the Religious Affairs Committee of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Civil Society held a number of meetings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Chairman of the Religious Affairs Committee of the Ministry of religious affairs and civil society E. Ongarbayev visited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) on February 4-8, 2018 at the invitation of the Ministry of Hajj Affairs.

During the visit, the RAC Chairman held a number of meetings with officials of the Ministry of Hajj Affairs of the KSA and discussed issues and proposals related to the Hajj.

At the meeting with the Deputy Minister for Hajj Affairs, Mr. Abdulfattah bin Sulaimen Mashshat, issues related to the Hajj were discussed in detail, in particular, the transportation of pilgrims, medical examinations, paperwork, coordination of activities of all Hajj companies, etc.

Also, the Ministry of Hajj Affairs held meetings with the heads of structural divisions, where E. Ongarbayev noted the need to observe security measures when transporting Kazakh pilgrims. In turn, the Saudi side said that it will pay more attention to this issue. In 2018, the quota of pilgrims from Kazakhstan is set at 3000 people.

The result of the working trip was the signing of the contract between Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia «Hajj-2018». This agreement covers such items as the number of quotas, the safety of pilgrims, flights to the Hajj by airlines, and other issues. This year, the transportation of Kazakh pilgrims will be carried out from the Kazakh side by «SCAT» and Saudi «FlyNas» in equal shares of 50/50 percent. In General, it can be noted that the agreements reached will contribute to the further development of bilateral relations and is a manifestation of the state's concern to create conditions for improving the quality of the organization and implementation of the pilgrimage.