The Council of Ministers on Tuesday approved the Law for the Service Providers of Foreign Haj Pilgrims. The Council endorsed the law after examining an earlier decision of the Shoura Council and recommendation of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA). There is a provision in the law for the institutional restructuring of the tawafa organizations so as to transform them into closed joint stock companies. Commenting on the Cabinet decision, Minister of Haj and Umrah Mohammed Saleh Benten said the new law will bring about a qualitative leap in harnessing the best technologies in serving the guests of Allah. While thanking King Salman and the Crown Prince for the approval of the new law, Benten said that this shows the Kingdom's keenness to improve the quality of services being provided to the pilgrims through enhancing the work efficiency and performance of tawafa organizations along with activating the partnership of the private sector in line with the objectives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030. Benten said the decision to restructure the tawafa organizations would lead to further improving the quality of services being provided to Haj pilgrims through the establishment of specialized companies, and raising their capital through the public offering of shares. "The law allows Saudis to obtain license to provide services to pilgrims and visitors from outside the Kingdom, and apply the rules of governance on them along with preserving the rights of both the parties," he said, adding that the law will transform the traditional tawafa organizations into a sector, which is taking advantage of the highly advanced technologies in serving the pilgrims, and allowing them to establish branches to carry out support services. -- SG/SPA
