Under the patronage of Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal and in the presence of Makkah Deputy Governor Prince Badr bin Sultan, the forum will seek to contribute to achieving the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and those of Doyof Al-Rahman Program, which include enriching the pilgrims’ experience, reaching 30 million Umrah performers and five million Hajj performers by 2030.

This will support the promising partnership between the public and private sectors. The event will see the participation of a number of government and private bodies, along with Saudi ministries, authorities and chambers.

The First Manafee Forum also aims to shed light on the competitive characteristics of Makkah and Madinah through panel discussions that will feature senior officials and decision-makers.

This would contribute to increasing the private sector’s participation in the GDP of the two cities, and strengthen Makkah and Madinah’s role in supporting the “Made in Saudi” program, which aims at encouraging national industries, empowering companies to increase their overall contribution to the national economy, in line with the Kingdom Vision 2030’s Shareek Program.

Abdullah Saleh Kamel, chairman of the board of directors for the Makkah Chamber of Commerce, expressed his thanks and appreciation to Prince Khaled for sponsoring the forum.

“We cherish Prince Khaled’s support and thank him for sponsoring the event, as this has positively impacted every person who worked on the First Manafee Forum.

“We also highly value all the efforts that were exerted by the principality of Makkah region to support and facilitate the work of the chamber and the private sector. We always consider them to be the main partners in our success,” he said.

Kamel also lauded Prince Badr bin Sultan for honoring the forum with his presence, supporting, as usual, all those who encourage creativity and create new business and private sector opportunities.

“We also thank Prince Badr bin Sultan for honoring the forum with his presence and supporting it. We are proud to receive such generous support so we can launch this developmental project, which we consider to be the first step of a long creative journey,” he added.

Kamel then stressed the importance of the forum's sessions and panel discussions when it comes to promoting cooperation and integration between the public and private sectors, which would, in turn, strengthen the position of Makkah and Madinah, turning them into popular destinations for business events in the Islamic World.

“The First Manafee Forum came to strengthen the tripartite agreement signed between the Makkah Chamber of Commerce, Madinah Chamber of Commerce and Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture. It will bring together experts, decision-makers and business owners in order to contribute to achieving the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and Doyof Al-Rahman Program,” he said.