Saudi Arabia raises RI haj quota by 10,000

JAKARTA. Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said Saudi authorities had agreed to increase Indonesia’s haj quota by up to 10,000 seats following a meeting between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

“Alhamdulillah [Thanks God], next year, we will get an additional 10,000 haj seats,” said Pramono on Cabinet Secretary official website setkab.go.id, as quoted by Antara in Jakarta on Sunday.

He said an increased haj quota was important for Indonesia as it had a large Muslim population, and there is an average 10 year waiting list.

“The President is hoping that apart from the additional 10,000 haj seats, we can get a higher quota. We are fighting to get an additional quota. Hopefully, next year, we can return our haj quota back to around 200,000 seats. Currently, our haj quota is around 168,000,” said Pramono.

He added that President Jokowi was committed to improving haj services for the country’s people. He said more needed to be done despite the improvements.

Pramono said President Jokowi’s bilateral meeting with King Salman was part of his work visit to the Middle East. During the visit, the President also attended a string of meetings, including ones with Islamic Development Bank president Ahmad Mohamed Ali and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) secretary general Iyad Ameen Madani.