KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's haj quota has been restored to 30,200 pilgrims beginning this haj season.
Tabung Haji chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said the approval was obtained during King Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia's historic visit to Malaysia at the end of last month.
"Aside from securing RM31 billion in investments from Saudi Aramco and Petronas, an agreement was also reached to restore the 30,200 haj quota from 22,000 pilgrims three years ago," said Abdul Azeez (BN-Baling).
Abdul Azeez said this while debating a motion of thanks to the royal address by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V at the Dewan Rakyat today.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had previously said that Malaysia's request for an increase in the haj quota had been met positively by King Salman.
The Saudi government had also announced the restoration of a Malaysian haj quota from 27,900 pilgrims for this year's haj season compared to 22,230 since 2013.