Participating In The Hajj Congress In Saudi Arabia, Minister Of Religion Yaqut Promise Asked For Additional Indonesian Hajj Quota

Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (right) together with the Minister of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia Tawfiq F Al Rabiah (left)/ ANTARA/Asep Firmansyah/am.

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) asked Saudi Arabia to increase the hajj quota for Indonesia. This will be conveyed at the Hajj Congress in early 2023. "I hope that our requests can be fulfilled, one of which is an additional quota," said Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas in a written statement received in Jakarta, Antara, Thursday, January 5. Currently Yaqut and his staff are leaving for Saudi Arabia to attend the preparations for the Hajj Congress organized by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Hajj congress will discuss the preparation of Hajj, starting from quotas, hotels, to the provision of boga or catering services for pilgrims. Yaqut hopes that in the congress, Indonesia's proposal regarding the addition of quotas can be fulfilled. "This is important so that the long hajj queue can be shortened. God willing, 100 percent has been received. We want more than 100 percent," he said. He said this congress would determine the implementation of the 2023 Hajj. Therefore, Yaqut deliberately flew to Saudi Arabia so that he could immediately negotiate. This working visit also marks the start of the preparation process for the 1444 H/2023 M Hajj implementation. "So this congress will very determine how the Hajj will be this year," he said. Last year, the implementation of the Hajj was considered successful based on data released by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) with the Indonesian Hajj Satisfaction Index (IKHJ) getting a score of 90.45. This figure is categorized as very satisfying. In fact, this figure is the highest number after 11 times the implementation of Hajj since 2010. This is an achievement that of course needs to be repeated, even improved in the implementation of this year's Hajj.