Last Thursday, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj and Umrah Research at Umm Al-Qura University signed a strategic agreement with the Tawafa Establishment for the Pilgrims of Turkey as well as the Muslims of Europe, America and Australia. The agreement was signed in the presence of His Excellency the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah Transportation, Dr. Bassam Ghalman, the acting Dean of the Institute, Dr. Ahmad Qadi, and the Head of the Tawafa Establishment, Mr. Tariq Anqawi.

The partnership agreement which was signed by the Head of the Planning and Decision Support Unit of the institute, Dr. Akram Nour, and the General Supervisor of the Transport Sector at the establishment, Eng. Adil Qari, aims at providing engineering and technical consultancy studies and services in order to put into effect the initiatives directed to enhance the quality of Hajj services, decision-making support systems, and operational plans related to Hajj projects.

Dr. Akram Nour said that the agreement comes within the context of the ongoing studies undertaken by the institute to improve the quality of services provided to the pilgrims, according to the Saudi Vision 2030. The agreement includes the provision of consultancy studies for the project of improving the experience of the pilgrims using advanced image analysis for the VIP category of pilgrims staying at the camps of Mina and Arafat. It also incorporates monitoring the performance of the shuttle transportation of pilgrims between the holy sites along shuttle route 9, in addition to studying the operational plans and technical solutions for transporting, handling and delivering sterile nutrition to pilgrims during their stay at Mina.

The Director of Service Improvement Sector at the establishment, Dr. Wael Halabi, praised the pioneering role carried out by the institute in the field of consultancy and studies concerning Hajj and Umrah. His Excellency a member of the board of directors at the establishment and Supervisor of the Transport Sector, Eng. Adil Qari, expressed his appreciation for the initial emerging conceptual outputs of the agreement, in terms of developing advanced techniques and operational plans, in order to enrich the experience of the pilgrims and the services provided to them, in accordance with the highest quality standards.