PUTRAJAYA, Feb 27 (Bernama) -- Saudi Arabia's Minister of Haj and Umrah Dr Tawfiq Fawzan Al-Rabiah was today awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Management by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) for his great contribution in the coordination of the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage.
Tawfiq, who is in Malaysia for a three-day working visit until tomorrow, received the award from Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin at a ceremony here.
UTM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Ahmad Fauzi Ismail, in a statement, said Tawfiq was chosen for the award because of his huge contribution in coordinating the Haj and Umrah agencies around the world, including in transforming the management services, which helped a lot in ensuring a smooth haj pilgrimage when the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tawfiq was appointed as the Minister of Haj and Umrah by the government of Saudi Arabia on Oct 15, 2021.
Prior to that, he was the Minister of Health for five years, during which he also played an important role in controlling the spread of COVID-19 .
During his tenure as the Health Minister, various proactive efforts and contributions were made to control and contain the spread of the epidemic, including the empowerment of e-health facilities, and Saudi Arabia also became one of the first countries in the world to launch the vaccination campaign.
It was because of Tawfiq's high commitment and leadership in handling the pandemic that there was no report of COVID-19 cases during the Haj pilgrimage in 2020.
Ahmad expressed the hope that the awarding of the Honorary Degree to Tawfiq would spur bilateral strategic cooperation between UTM, as well as other Malaysian higher education institutions, and the government of Saudi Arabia.
"It is in developing research, innovation, academic programmes, as well as enriching experience through the sharing of expertise to further elevate and improve the management of Haj and Umrah," he said.
UTM has so far awarded Honorary Degrees to 25 international recipients.
-- BERNAMA
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