MAIA launches Hajj, Omrah Expo at Int\'l Fairground

Inaugurated and sponsored by the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs (MAIA), an exhibition of Hajj and Omrah of Kuwaiti campaigns for the year 2011 began on Sunday at the International Fairground in Mishref. The ministry's sponsorship of such an exhibition is important to the Kuwaiti Hajj market, which brings together various companies with similar interests to share their experiences and showcase their services to pilgrims, said the Director of the MAIA's Hajj Affairs Department, Roumi Matar Al-Roumi, in a press release issued after the launch of the event. Al-Roumi added that the purpose behind the ministry's participation in the exhibition, which is set to run until August 13, is to bolster the MAIA's partnership with the private sector, stressing that the ministry also wants to get to know pilgrims better and provide them with all the information they need on the burgeoning Hajj market. The ministry's sponsorship of the event is also intended to encourage all Hajj and Omrah pilgrimage organizing firms, as well as other specialist companies, to join the ministry through its Hajj Affairs Department and to help pilgrims, meet with Hajj pilgrimage firms' owners. The event will also help to shed light on problems facing pilgrims like high prices for pilgrimages, delays during arrival or departure, and traffic congestion, added the senior MAIA official, noting that the ministry has always been keen to solve such issues, unlike a number of the pilgrimage organizing companies.