Jakarta, The Indonesia Post – Chairman of the Indonesian People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Bambang Soesatyo (Bamsoet) asked the Government of Saudi Arabia to provide an additional haj quota for pilgrims from Indonesia.
In a statement received in Jakarta, Wednesday, Bamsoet conveyed this to the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Indonesia Faisal Abdullah H. Amodi.
“With the addition of the hajj quota, it is hoped that it can cut the waiting period for Indonesian haj departures from currently an average of 20 to 30 years so that it can be under 10 years,” said Bamsoet.
Bamsoet conveyed this after receiving the arrival of Faisal Abdullah H. Amodi in the Office of the Chairman of the Indonesian People’s Consultative Assembly, Jakarta, Wednesday.
According to him, the additional pilgrimage quota was necessary considering that Indonesia is a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, reaching 238 million people or around 12.5 percent of the world’s Muslim population.
Even so, he still appreciated the steps taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to pay great attention to Indonesia. One of these concerns is evident in 2023, where the haj quota for pilgrims from Indonesia will reach 221,000 people or the largest in the world.
Bamsoet is also pushing for the construction of an Indonesian House in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which was initiated by the government of President Joko Widodo, to be used as an apartment complex or residence for pilgrims or Umrah pilgrims from Indonesia.
This can be realized soon with the support of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The land provided by Saudi Arabia for the construction of the Indonesian House is in the form of a 99-year lease.
“However, there are regulations from Saudi Arabia which give the Government (Royal Commission for Mecca and Holy Sites/RCMC) authority to take the land at any time; so it cannot guarantee certainty that within 99 years, the land will be used by Indonesia. Therefore, we need to sit together to find a way out of this,” he explained.
On the same occasion, Bamsoet said that apart from cooperation in the Hajj sector, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia also had many opportunities to increase cooperation in the economic and trade sectors.
“One of them is by facilitating access to Indonesian products to Saudi Arabia, especially halal products. Several Indonesian companies have registered their products with the Saudi Food and Drugs Authority (SFDA), but until now the SFDA has not given approval,” he said.
Therefore, he hopes that Faisal Abdullah H. Amodi can help Indonesia get the SFDA’s approval, especially for fishery products needed by Indonesian pilgrims. Apart from that, Saudi Arabia can also invest in the development project of the Archipelago Capital City in East Kalimantan. (mhn/bbs)
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