HCM City authorities have instructed to tighten control over municipal official’s overseas travel using the state budget.

Director of the city’s Internal Affairs Department Truong Van Lam

The move was made following HCM City’s Inspectorate conducted a check on overseas trips by municipal officials, finding many violations.

Director of the city’s Internal Affairs Department Truong Van Lam said that the HCM City People’s Committee issued a decision on foreign travel for officials. Leaders of agencies and districts are allowed to decide their staff’s overseas trips.   

They will be limited to a maximum of two trips per year, and special cases would require permission from the city's people's committee.

“Some officials went abroad without being permitted by their management agencies; while several others travelled overseas more than 100 days per year,” Lam pointed out.

Lam added that officials go abroad using the state budget or even take their personal travel overseas are requested to inform the office of the city People’s Committee. In case, their trips are more than 30 days, they need to report to the municipal Department of Internal Affairs.

Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong ordered that leaders of departments and agencies of the committee have to ask for his approval for their foreign tours. Each delegation could not surpass 12 people. They could only go to three countries for a maximum of 30 days. When returning, they need to file a report about the trip.

HCM City’s Inspectorate previously discovered leaders of Tan Thuan Industrial Promotion Company to have violated overseas tour regulations.

Meanwhile, Hoang Nhu Cuong, deputy head of the Management Authority for Urban Railways of HCM City (MAUR) has been suspended from his post. Cuong reportedly travelled to the United States in December last year without the approval of the HCM City government, the administering agency of MAUR.

Tien Phong/Dtinews