Saudi Arabia closed the sixth edition of its Hajj Conference and Exhibition on Thursday after four days in which organizers said more than 200,000 people attended and 2,553 agreements were signed.
The event, held in Jeddah under the slogan “From Mecca to the World,” drew more than 520 government, private and nonprofit organizations and participants from more than 150 countries, according to the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, which organized it.
The ministry said it finished signing hajj arrangement agreements with pilgrim affairs offices from 76 countries for next year’s pilgrimage. Other deals covered group scheduling and air transport.
The program included 45 panel discussions with more than 460 speakers, and 71 workshops that trained 3,500 people. Topics included infrastructure, transport, housing, catering, health care and technology.
The exhibition covered more than 67,000 square meters (about 721,000 square feet) and featured organizations from 19 fields tied to hajj services, including aviation, crowd management and artificial intelligence.
New this year was an awareness and training forum, where the ministry said 658 trainers from 76 countries took part in programs offered in four languages. An innovation section featured 15 startups and 574 products in an innovation store.
Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Abdulfattah Mashat presented awards for service to pilgrims, media outreach and innovation.
