Intraco Group has decided to distribute Saudi mobile SIM cards among all the Bangladeshi hajj pilgrims at free of cost along with 10 Saudi Riyal talk time this year for easy communication with their family members from Saudia Arabia.
"A Hajj pilgrim will be able to talk with his family members in Bangladesh from Saudi Arabia free of cost. Usually, a person has to give 10 Saudi Riyals to talk to a person in Bangladesh from Saudia Arabia using Saudi SIM card," Managing Director of Intraco Group Mohammad Riyadh Ali said.
Addressing a press conference at Jatiya Press Club today, he said the Intraco Group has taken up a special corporate social responsibility (CSR) project in 2014 in collaboration with the religious affairs ministry and Mobile Phone Operator, Mobily from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
"We will hand over SIM cards to pilgrims just before their departure from Bangladesh so that they can give their respective Saudi cell number to their relatives," Riyadh Ali said.
He said the Intraco also distributed 1,30,000 Saudi mobile SIM cards free of cost to Bangladeshi pilgrims in 2012, while 1,20,000 in 2013 under the similar project. Riyadh Ali said the SIM card also has free incoming call facility.
Each hajj pilgrim can collect the SIM card from four primary locations, including Intraco outlets inside immigration at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport, Intraco head office at Baridhara and SIM card distribution booth at Ashkona Haji Camp in Dhaka, he said.
The Intraco managing director said the entire project is being run with the support of Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission, post and telecommunications ministry, civil aviation and tourism ministry, religious ministry, national board of revenue, hajj camp and Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited.
Among others, vice president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries M Helal Uddin and representative of Mobily, Saudi Arabia Ayman Hatem S Aldweik were present in the press conference.
The Intraco official requested all hajj pilgrims to collect their SIM cards from the SIM card booth before departure.