Ties between the two countries have been affected by abuse cases victimizing Indonesian housemaids and a demand from Jakarta to implement tighter regulations when recruiting laborers from the country.

Hendrar Pramutyo, a citizen protection official at the Indonesian Embassy, said the Saudi side was extending "all support to the Indonesian government and pilgrims."

Pramutyo, who spoke about ongoing bilateral negotiations on labor issues with special reference to Haj, said: "The two countries were discussing a range of issues to boost cooperation in the manpower sector."

He said some progress had been made especially after the visit of a presidential task force to Saudi Arabia recently. “But, we are working to set up a mechanism in which full protection to our workers can be guaranteed," he added.

Jakarta is also under pressure to hold fruitful negotiations with Riyadh in order to resume the recruitment of women workers after reports that Indonesia would lose about SR1.3 billion annually because of the moratorium on labor exports to the Kingdom that became effective from Aug. 1 this year, said a report published in Indonesian English daily The Jakarta Post recently.

The potential losses each year are expected to amount to around 5 percent of the total amount remitted by Indonesian expats, it said.

Referring to the negotiations between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, Pramutyo said "there was no breakthrough as yet, but we have not given up hope."

He also pointed out that the Indonesian diplomatic missions in Riyadh and Jeddah had been trying to save around 40 Indonesian workers, mainly housemaids, who are on death row in Saudi Arabia.

"We are closely working with Saudi government agencies on the death row cases," said Pramutyo, while also referring to two maids who were pardoned and successfully repatriated.

He said that Garuda Indonesia and Saudi Arabian Airlines would carry Indonesian pilgrims this year. National flag carrier Garuda will operate 14 wide-bodied aircraft to fly pilgrims from Oct. 2, it said in a press statement. The number of Indonesian pilgrims allowed by the Saudi government is reportedly 211,000.

Since last year, the Indonesian government offered private airlines to transport pilgrims. However, Lion Air and Batavia Air, which wanted to bid for the tender this year, could not fulfill the government’s stringent requirements.