REPORT:

USM HAJJ RESEARCH SECRETARIAT MEETING WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF

ORGANIZATION OF ISLAMIC CONFERENCE (OIC) & ISLAMIC DEVELOPMENT BANK
(IDB)
Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Monday, 7th May 2007

Secretariat personnel from USM:

Prof. Kamarulazizi Ibrahim – USM Hajj Research Director
Mr. Badrol Hisham Mohd. Nowani – Assistant to the Director
Mr. Mohd. Hafiz Bin Mohd. Salleh – Research Officer
Mr. Khairur Rahim Bin Ahmad Hilme – Liaison & Research Officer

On the 7th of May, 2007, 4 personnel of USM Hajj Research Cluster visited the OIC and IDB
headquarters in Jeddah, to present the preliminary report on the Stakeholders Workshop:
Commercialization of Hajj Research.

I. Meeting with OIC

Our first stop was at the OIC headquarters. Meeting with Dr. Razley Noordin, the Director
General of Science & Technology, started at 09.30. Prof. Kamarulazizi presented a 45
minutes report based on the Stakeholders Workshop’s LFA resolution.

Dr. Razley congratulates USM and UQU for staging the workshop and gave a few comments
and ideas on how to further improve the whole Intelligent and Integrated Hajj Mobilization
System (IIHMS) project. Noted comment/suggestion from Dr. Razley:
1. Request to re-package the Stakeholders Workshop; change the phrase
“Commercialization of Hajj Research” to “Science & Technology for the Ummah’s
benefit”
2. On Surveillance & Monitoring cluster – he asked the secretariat to suppress the
“unlawful entry” phrase due to sensitivity of KSA Government to illegal immigrant
issues and suggested that the RFID tag to be equipped with medical & health
information.
3. On Waste Management cluster – Dr. Razley suggested the inclusion of bio-
degradable plastic project from Universiti Putra Malaysia Bio-tech Faculty; and
collaboration with Dato’ Daud of Malaysia’s Institute of Nuclear Technology (MINT).
4. On Training, Education, & Awareness (TEA) cluster – he recommended us to
collaborate and get funding from Lembaga Tabung Haji for OIC Countries capacity
building programs. Partnership with OIC’s Malaysian Technical Cooperation Project
was also proposed by him. He also suggested that we form a mechanism to gauge
the effectiveness of our proposed training, especially the “Training of Trainers” (TOT)
programs.
5. Due to OIC’s interest in the TEA, he would like the USM Hajj Research Cluster to
present a full documentation on the benefit of the program at the OIC’s Group 11
Summit which was scheduled on March 2008 in Dakkar, Senegal.
6. Dr. Razley had also conveyed the message from the President of Islamic Chamber of
Commerce and Industries (ICCI) to participate in our project.
 7. To ensure the success of this project, Prof. Dato’ Dzulkifli Abd. Razak is suggested to
present the IIHMS to the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
8. Circulate the “Stakeholders Report: Commercialization of Hajj Research” to all the
OIC Members Countries.

Prof. Kamarulazizi presented USM’s souvenirs to Dr. Razley before we leave. Meeting
ended at 11.00.

II. Meeting with IDB

USM delegate were received at by Mr. Muhammad Ali Toure, Acting Director, Science &
Technology Office, and Mr. Mohd. Rafi of Strategic Planning Unit.

A short meeting with IDB Vice President of Operation, HE Amadou Boubacar Cisse started
at 13.10. Prof. Kamarulazizi explained the whole IIHMS and the Stakeholders Workshop:
Commercialization of Hajj Research to the Vice President. The benefits of this project –
capacity building, economic generation, knowledge sharing, and technology transfer –
especially to the under-developed nations was explained in a brief and precise manner.
USM’s gratitude for the support from IDB was also stressed out.

HE Amadou Boubacar Cisse agreed that the project is in-line with IDB work. He was hopeful
that the Mobility and Transportation project could be copied and implemented in the African
region. The technology of solid waste management was also needed urgently in Africa. IDB
will follow closely on the impact and outcome of the IIHMS project.

Before leaving the office, Prof. Kamarulazizi presented souvenirs from USM to the Vice
President.

At 13.45, a presentation was given by Prof. Kamarulazizi to Dato’ Ghazali M. Noor, Mr.
Mohamed Ali Toure, and Mr. Rafi at IDB Strategic Planning Office. The immediate impact,
short term, and long term effects of the IIHMS were revealed to them.

Dato Ghazali’s reply based on the given presentation:

i. Suggested the need of Ulama/KSA Shura Council to be involved in the whole
process.
ii. Made clear suggestion that IDB wanted us to collaborate with ICCI.
iii. Suggested that USM collaborated with Lembaga Tabung Haji for the training
program.
iv. Suggested that we grouped trainers from the whole Muslims nation of the African
region, rather than Nigeria only, for the TOT and the pilot project.
v. Advise us to also include training program for pilgrims of Central Russia, with
collaboration from IDB Research & Training Institute (IRTI).

The meeting ended at 15.00 with promise of personal support from Dato’ Ghazali to the
whole of IIHMS project.