- Measures taken to reduce expenses on overseas travel.
- Cabinet members are limited to three yearly visits, with the exception of the ministers of trade and foreign policy.
- Senior officials and MNAs permitted business class.
ISLAMABAD: The financially challenged federal government on Monday issued a travel directive requiring, among other people, the chief justice, president, prime minister, chief operating officer, chief operating officer, and bureaucrats to fly in specific classes in order to save money.
The president and the Chief Justice will fly in “class-1,” according to a notification from the Cabinet Division. In contrast, business class will be used for the PM, Senate chairman, speaker of the National Assembly, ministers, chiefs of services, MNAs, federal secretaries, grade-22 officers, and ambassadors.
Economy class will be used for travel by other federal officers, affiliated departments, autonomous and semi-autonomous entities, corporations, and other institutions under the administrative supervision of different ministries/divisions.
As per the recommendation, officers are only permitted to travel abroad on mandatory visits and only in economy class.
Not required visits
An exemption must be requested from the austerity committee established by the Ministry of Finance in February 2024 or any successor austerity committee in the event that non-obligatory visits are to be paid for entirely or in part by the government. If such visits are not government-funded, the exemption won’t be necessary. In a similar vein, no support personnel would go with the officers when they visited foreign countries, and they would not be permitted to stay in five-star hotels. Contact the Pakistani embassies overseas if assistance personnel is needed.
When half or full support from the government or its affiliated departments is involved, teleconferencing should be the top choice for both required and voluntary visits.
Visitor approval procedure
Before traveling overseas, cabinet members, federal secretaries, and extra secretaries must obtain permission from the prime minister. Likewise, in order for an official below grade 20 to travel overseas, authorization from the relevant minister and secretaries is required.
The notification stated that in the event of an emergency, the PM may choose not to route the summaries for visits overseas through one or more divisions, and that delegations with more than three members will need authorization from the PM through the Foreign Office.
It further said that the overseas Affairs Division and the Pakistani missions will be notified immediately and in advance of any overseas visit, regardless of the approving authority.
When foreign ministry personnel travel abroad, the ministry will authorize delegations of no more than five people; delegations larger than that will require the PM’s approval.
The notification stated that unless there are “unavoidable and very exceptional circumstances,” neither the minister nor the secretary of a ministry or division may be abroad at the same time.
The ministries or divisions requesting this kind of exemption must submit their case to the PM for approval and include a paragraph in the summary that thoroughly supports their request for an exemption.
It stated that ministries and divisions must make every effort to have Pakistani representatives at meetings and conferences be officials of Pakistani embassies in the host nation. Nonetheless, the relevant ministries and divisions must promptly supply the Pakistani embassies overseas with the necessary briefing materials.
The conferences that Pakistani embassies overseas can manage will be listed, and the relevant missions will be duly notified. In these cases, coordination will be handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If a visit is deemed necessary, the summary should state clearly why the Pakistani mission overseas is unable to address the matter.
With rare exceptions, cabinet members will not be permitted to go overseas more than three times year. Ministers of business and international policy will be free from this restriction, though. Before visiting any foreign financial institutions, all divisions need get the Economic Affairs Divisions’ nod of approval.
With no government funds involved, the establishment division will develop comprehensive policy guidelines in conjunction with all ministries and divisions for workshops of government officers up to BS-19. The current system will remain in place until these rules are released.
According to the notification, no minister or government employee may independently approach other parties for invitations to trainings, conferences, seminars, workshops, meetings, etc.
Members of the National Security Committee, advisers, SAPMs, federal ministers, state ministers, parliamentary secretaries, provincial governors, and those holding the rank of federal minister or minister of state but not cabinet rank are not eligible to accept airfare or per diem offers from foreign governments or international organizations for visits abroad, unless they are from the UN agencies or Office of the Inspector General.
Summaries that ask for the PM’s orders should be sent to him 14 days prior to the foreign visit through the foreign and finance ministries, if applicable. They should include information about the expenses involved, including the foreign exchange component and balance in the relevant budget head (the main body of the summary), as well as specifics about prior foreign visits over the previous 12 months.
