ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has received 82,000 applications for next year’s Hajj pilgrimage under the government scheme, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Religious Affairs said on Wednesday, adding that more applications may be invited in early January to fill any remaining seats.
Saudi Arabia has allotted Pakistan a quota of 179,210 pilgrims for Hajj 2025, divided equally between government and private schemes. The government extended the deadline for applications twice this month, first from Dec. 3 to Dec. 10, and then to Dec. 17, as it aimed to fill over 89,000 seats under the government scheme.
For the first time, the country’s Hajj policy, announced in November, also allowed pilgrims to pay in installments. Under the scheme, the first installment of Rs200,000 ($717) must be submitted with the application, the second installment of Rs400,000 ($1,435) will be deposited within 10 days of balloting and the remaining amount will be paid by Feb. 10 next year.
“We have received 82,000 applications and have stopped accepting further submissions to facilitate the completion of the second installment process,” Muhammad Umer Butt, the ministry spokesperson, told Arab News, referring to the payment of expenses by pilgrims.
He said the second installment could be submitted at the same banks where applications were initially deposited, between Dec. 19 and Dec. 27.
“If any seats remain unfilled, we will reopen applications for a few days in the first week of January,” he said, adding that the ministry may also allocate leftover seats to the hardship quota, currently set at 1,000.
This quota is reserved for pilgrims with special needs or circumstances and attendants for individuals with disabilities.
The spokesperson said the government scheme witnessed about 12,000 to 13,000 more applications this year compared to 2023.
In 2024, Pakistan surrendered 21,000 Hajj seats to Saudi Arabia due to a shortage of applications, but the government hopes to fill all slots this time.
“This increase is due to the positive feedback from last year’s pilgrims regarding government facilities and the introduction of the installment option,” Butt said.
He informed the Pakistani Hajj mission has initiated its operations by starting the process of hiring services and accommodations in Saudi Arabia, adding the advance preparations would help determine the exact amount for the third and final installment, due in February.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs has launched the Pak Hajj 2025 mobile application to guide pilgrims, available for both Android and iPhone users. The government has also announced a reduction in airfare, with ticket prices for federal program pilgrims reduced to Rs220,000, down from last year’s Rs234,000.
Pakistan International Airlines, Saudi Airlines and private carriers have agreed to transport pilgrims next year, according to the ministry.
Pakistan receives 82,000 applications for government Hajj scheme this year
https://arab.news/cy96b
Pakistan receives 82,000 applications for government Hajj scheme this year
- Religious Affairs Ministry says it may reopen applications in January to fill the remaining seats
- Pakistan allowed intending pilgrims to pay Hajj fees in installments for the first time this year
Pakistani, Uzbek leaders urge business community to help achieve $2 billion trade target
- Pakistan and Uzbekistan have steadily increased economic ties in recent years, with bilateral trade volume reaching nearly $500 million
- President Shavkat Mirziyoyev says business community is ‘most important bridge’ linking both nations, promising favorable business climate
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Friday urged businesspersons from both countries to help the two countries achieve a bilateral trade target of $2 billion within the next five years.
The two leaders made the call while addressing traders, industrialists from both countries at the Pakistan Uzbekistan Business Forum in Islamabad during President Mirziyoyev’s visit to the South Asian country.
Pakistan and Uzbekistan have steadily increased economic ties in recent years as Pakistan offers landlocked Central Asian states greater access to global markets, aiming to position itself as a regional transit hub.
Pakistan was the first Central Asian partner with which Uzbekistan signed a bilateral Transit Trade Agreement, along with a Preferential Trade Agreement in March 2022, covering 17 items, which became operational in 2023.
“We agreed that political goodwill must be matched by economic actions and words must be converted into implementation,” Sharif said, citing his visit to Tashkent last year which had helped brought annual bilateral trade to nearly $450 million.
“Today, ladies and gentlemen, we will strengthen last night’s protocol by signing another document today, which will give you vistas of opportunities to sit down together, B2B (business to business), have wonderful discussions with your counterparts and come to arrangements in terms of joint ventures, investments in Uzbekistan and Pakistan.”
Sharif was referring to the protocol signed between the two countries on Thursday to establish a joint working group to formulate a five-year action plan to take bilateral trade to $2 billion. Both sides also signed 28 agreements focused on areas such as defense cooperation, climate change, disaster risk reduction, disaster management, agriculture, exports of fruits, and mining and geosciences.
President Mirziyoyev said the increase in bilateral trade to half-a-billion dollars was an outcome of their talks held in Tashkent in Feb. last year.
“Over the course of very comprehensive and detailed discussions yesterday, we together decided that this is far [from] being enough,” he told businessperson from both countries.
The Uzbek president said business community is the “most important bridge” in linking the two nations and it was their job as heads of the state to ensure favorable conditions for them.
“Success of this agreement is in your hands,” he told the attendees, assuring them of eliminating any obstacles and bottlenecks in the process.
Later, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari conferred the Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian award of the country, on President Mirziyoyev at a televised ceremony.
The Nishan-e-Pakistan is awarded to individuals who have rendered services of highest distinction to the national interest of Pakistan and has often been conferred on visiting Heads of State as a mark of respect and friendship.
