Today, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah signed a joint memorandum of understanding with the National Bank of Saudi Arabia, in the presence of His Excellency the Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Chairman of the Committee for Serving the Guests of God, Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, the Chairman of the Bank’s Board of Directors, Ammar bin Abdul Wahed Al-Khudairi, and the Managing Director and CEO of the Bank Group, Saeed bin Mohammed. Al-Ghamdi, with the aim of creating business accelerators to enable pioneering projects to employ technology and contribute to raising the efficiency of workers in serving the Guests of God, in order to achieve the objectives of the Program for Serving the Guests of God.

The agreement was signed by the Ministry’s Undersecretary for Hajj and Umrah Services, Dr. Amr bin Redha Al-Maddah, and by the Bank’s Head of Social Responsibility, Basma bint Abdulaziz Al-Jawhari, at the headquarters of the General Administration of the National Bank of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, as a continuation of joint cooperation that contributes to creating an integrated environment to serve pilgrims and Umrah pilgrims. According to the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 programmes.

The Undersecretary for Hajj and Umrah Services, Dr. Amr bin Redha Al-Maddah, explained that the agreement aims to create business accelerators that embrace pioneering facilities and projects in the Hajj and Umrah system that contribute to completing the appropriate infrastructure to provide services with high quality, in an effort to achieve the system’s goals and the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 under the umbrella of the Guests of God Service Program. And as an extension of the efforts made through the Entrepreneurship Center of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.

The Undersecretary for Pilgrimage and Umrah Services pointed out the importance of enhancing the participation of small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs in the sector of pilgrims and Umrah services, and providing them with the appropriate capabilities to contribute to facilitating the arrival of the guests of God to the Two Holy Mosques, providing high-quality services, and enriching the religious and cultural experience of pilgrims and Umrah, by enhancing Alignment with relevant governmental and private agencies, and empowering entities affiliated with the Ministry.

It is noteworthy that the National Bank of Saudi Arabia offers pioneering initiatives to support and implement multiple programs for social responsibility, and the launch of the Hajj and Umrah business accelerators comes with the aim of activating the role of entrepreneurs and owners of small and medium enterprises in serving the guests of God, based on the bank’s strategy to be an effective contributor to the development of the local community, as follows: Empowering small and medium enterprises is a top priority for community development, which the Bank contributes to supporting through several programs and initiatives to achieve the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.