Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Religious Affairs has announced that Indonesia will receive a quota of 221,000 pilgrims for the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage from Saudi Arabia, the same as the quota for this year.

"The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has informed several countries, including Indonesia, about the 2024 Hajj quota. Next year, the quota for Indonesian pilgrims will be 221,000," Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said in a statement issued here on Monday.

The allocation of the 2024 Hajj quota was conveyed through a letter from the Saudi Hajj and Umrah Ministry received on Friday in Mecca, he remarked.

Indonesia received a quota of 221,000 pilgrims, plus an extra quota or 8,000 people, this year.

Qoumas said that the Saudi authority also provided information about the 2024 Hajj timetable in the letter.

Following the announcement of the 2024 Hajj quota, the next agenda will be the preparation meeting on September 16, 2023.

The Saudi authority will open the e-Hajj system for pilgrims' data input and account activation, announce the names of companies permitted to participate in Hajj organization, and open flight contracts.

Preparation meetings and arrangements for service packages are expected to conclude by November 4, 2023, while a Hajj and Umrah service exhibition and symposium are scheduled to take place on January 8, 2024.

Hajj accommodation and services contracts are expected to be completed by February 24, 2024.

Saudi Arabia will begin issuing Hajj visas on March 1, and their issuance, as well as access to the e-Hajj system, will conclude on April 29.

Pilgrims for the 2024 Hajj season are expected to start arriving in Saudi Arabia on May 9.

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Translator: Asep Firmansyah, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Anton Santoso
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