Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday inaugurated the first-ever national level conference and fair on Hajj and Umrah management in Bangladesh capital Dhaka.

She opened the event at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre through a virtual platform from her official residence Ganabhaban.

Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh in collaboration with the Religious Affairs Ministry arranged ‘The National Conference on Hajj and Umrah Management-2022 and Hajj and Umrah Fair.’

The objectives of the event include providing the pilgrims with proper hajj-related information, making them aware about current technology-based hajj management, enabling them to directly contact with Hajj agencies and reducing the interference of middlemen and scammers.

Two seminars will be held on ‘Hajj and Umrah Management: Achievements and Actions needed’ and ‘e-Hajj Management and Route to Mecca Initiatives’ at the conference.

Different Hajj agencies, financial organisations and the concerned authorities have installed some 150 stalls and pavilions in the three-day Hajj and Umrah Fair, which remains open to pilgrims from 10:00am to 8:00pm every day.

Bangladesh is the 4th largest pilgrim-sending country in the world.

More than 90 per cent of Bangladeshi hajj pilgrims and 100 per cent umrah pilgrims go to Saudi Arabia under private management.

State minister for religious affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan, state minister for civil aviation and tourism M Mahbub Ali, Saudi ambassador to Bangladesh Essa Yussef Essa Al Dulaihan, religious affairs secretary Kazi Enamul Hassan and HAAB president Shahadat Hossain Taslim spoke at the inaugural ceremony.