A government order (GO) signed by Mahbuba Irene, Joint Secretary of the Local Government Division, was issued on September 14. It approved foreign travel for Md Faruk Hossain, Senior Assistant Secretary of the Local Government Division; Mohammad Nuruzzaman, Assistant Engineer (Mechanical) of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC); and Mohammad Zakir Hossain, Sub-Assistant Engineer (Mechanical) of DSCC. They were authorized to travel to China from October 27 to November 2 or for seven days starting from their leave date.
The order said the three officials would receive training on the operation and maintenance of five new mobile toilets (VIP) being supplied under a project. Their trip would be considered part of their official duties, and all expenses would be borne by the manufacturer, Shandong Quanbai Intelligent Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Previously, the Chief Adviser’s Office (CAO) issued directives discouraging government officials from traveling abroad at the expense of contractors or suppliers. In violation of that instruction, government officials are traveling overseas with funding from contractors, manufacturers, and suppliers. A review of recent government orders shows that officials from various ministries and divisions have received approval to travel abroad for training on mobile toilets, sewage treatment plant equipment, trailers, chain dozers, scraper bridges, and power plant design and planning. Officials and experts have described such foreign travel at the expense of contractors, manufacturers, and suppliers as unethical and a conflict of interest.
Because of a dollar shortage and the government’s austerity policy, foreign trips by government officials had been strictly limited for over a year. In most cases, approvals were granted only when deemed absolutely necessary. Even after the Interim Government assumed office following the political change in August 2024, several restrictions were imposed on foreign travel by officials. Additional restrictions were introduced in March 2025.
Despite these measures, foreign travel by government officials has increased in recent months. Approvals have been granted for trips funded by international organizations such as the IMF, World Bank, ADB, JICA, ILO, and various UN agencies. Some trips have also been funded by different countries.
In addition, many officials have been approved for foreign trips funded by contractors, manufacturers, and suppliers for training, on-site inspections, performance tests, and factory acceptance tests. Recently, 35 officials from the Local Government Division and its agencies, the Power Division and its agencies, the Economic Relations Division (ERD), the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), and the Planning Commission have received such approvals.
The Chief Adviser’s Office issued a directive on December 9, 2024, discouraging foreign travel by government officials and employees. It said trips abroad would not be allowed except for essential national interests. The directive also emphasized avoiding unnecessary foreign trips at government expense. Secretaries of ministries and heads of departments or agencies were instructed not to travel abroad together unless absolutely required for national interests.
The directive, signed by the Chief Adviser’s Principal Secretary, M Siraz Uddin Miah, further stated that for procurement, pre-shipment inspections, or factory acceptance tests, only relevant specialists should be considered for such trips. It instructed that long-term study leave abroad should be avoided and that any proposal for foreign travel must include details of the concerned official’s overseas visits in the previous year.
On March 23, 2025, the Chief Adviser’s Office issued another circular on foreign travel guidelines for government officials. The circular, signed by the Principal Secretary, said foreign trips funded by contractors or suppliers must be strictly avoided. Except for emergencies, Advisers, Senior Secretaries, Secretaries, Private Secretaries, or Assistant Private Secretaries must not travel abroad together. It also prohibited including spouses or children as companions on official foreign trips.
Despite these directives, many officials from different ministries, divisions, and agencies have received foreign travel approvals in recent months. A foreign travel order signed by Ashfiqun Nahar, Deputy Secretary of the Local Government Division, on August 12 approved trips abroad for three government officials: Md Robiul Islam, Deputy Secretary of the Local Government Division; Md Momtajur Rahman, Executive Engineer of Dhaka WASA’s Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant; and Shahida Kaniz, Deputy Secretary of Dhaka WASA.
The order said the officials would travel to Germany for on-site inspections and performance tests related to the purchase of spare parts for pumps, motors, screw pump stators and rotors, PLCs, and SCADA systems at the Dhaka WASA sewage treatment plant. Their trip was described as part of their official duties, with all expenses to be covered by Tech-Strait Energy Services. The travel period was mentioned as June, but the GO approving the trip was issued two months later, in August.
On September 9, a government order was issued approving foreign travel for five officials from the Local Government Division and its affiliated agencies. They are Md Abul Hasan, Joint Secretary of the Local Government Division; Md Golam Yazdani, acting Superintendent Engineer at the LGED headquarters; ABM Nazmul Karim, Superintendent Engineer of the LGED Chattogram region; Md Fazle Habib, Project Director of the Improvement of Ponds, Canal Across the Country Project (IPCP); and Mohammad Al Imran, Deputy Project Director of the same project. They were authorized to travel to Japan for five days to attend an operation and maintenance training organized by Advance Technology Consortium Ltd (ATCL). The order did not specify the training subject. All expenses for the trip will be covered by Advance Technology Consortium Ltd.
Three officials from the Local Government Division and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) were approved for a trip to Thailand for operation and maintenance training related to the supply of new low-bed trailers. A government order was issued on September 14, allowing Md Kamruzzaman, Personal Officer of the Local Government Division; Md Shah Alam Bhuiyan, Executive Engineer (Mechanical) of DSCC; and Monirul Islam, Assistant Engineer of DSCC, to travel abroad from September 20 to 26 or for seven days from the start of leave. All expenses will be covered by the manufacturing company, International Sales and Trucks Asia.
Three officials from the Local Government Division and DSCC received approval for a trip to China for operation and maintenance training before purchasing five chain dozers. They are Md Amzad Hossain, Additional Secretary of the Local Government Division; Md Mahboob Alam, Executive Engineer (Mechanical) of DSCC; and Tanmoy Kumar Saha, Assistant Engineer (Mechanical) of DSCC. They were authorized for an eight-day trip starting from the date of departure. All expenses will be borne by the manufacturing companies Sinoway Industrial (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. and HTMS.
Three government officials were also approved for a trip to France for factory acceptance tests related to the procurement of scraper bridges. Md Monirul Islam, Joint Secretary of the Local Government Division; Md Mahbubul Alam, Superintendent Engineer of Chattogram Wasa; and Md Nurul Amin Miah, Superintendent Engineer of MOD Circle, were authorized for a seven-day trip under a government order issued on August 12. All expenses will be covered by South Korea’s Taeyoung Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd.
Attempts to reach Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan, Adviser to the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, and Md Rezaul Maksud Jahedi, Secretary of the Local Government Division, for comment on foreign trips by government officials funded by contractors, manufacturers, and suppliers went unanswered. Later, when asked about the matter, Cabinet Secretary Dr. Sheikh Abdur Rashid told Bonik Barta, “I am not aware of the matter. But I can say this much: those entrusted with state responsibilities should follow the rules.”
Not only the Local Government Division, but officials from several other ministries and divisions have also received approval for foreign trips funded by contractors, suppliers, and consulting firms. Among them, a government order signed on August 27 by Nazmul Hamid Reza, Senior Assistant Secretary of the Power Division, approved foreign trips for 15 government officials. They are ERD Deputy Secretary Irene Parvin; IMED Deputy Director Mahfuzul Alam Masum; Planning Commission’s Senior Assistant Chief for the Industry and Energy Division Md Azizur Rahman; Power Division Senior Assistant Secretary Nazmul Hamid Reza; Executive Engineer Amartya Roy, Sub-Divisional Engineer Md Nezamul Islam, and Assistant Engineer Salma Nasrin of BPDB’s Syedpur 150-Megawatt Power Plant Construction Project; BPDB Executive Engineers Md Omar Faruq and Tanvir Ahmed; BPDB Sub-Divisional Engineers Md Hasib Ullah, Akhtar Jahan, and Md R Rafi Sarkar; BPDB Assistant Engineers Maria Akter and Md Adil-Uz-Zaman. Approved for 10 days from the start date of travel, they will join a training course in China on the planning and design of BPDB’s Syedpur 150-Megawatt Power Plant Construction Project. All expenses are being covered by China’s Dongfang Electric Corporation (DEC).
According to those involved, foreign trips funded by contractors or suppliers have been taking place for a long time. In the past, officials found various ways to circumvent rules for such activities. Essentially, supplier companies have been arranging these trips at their own expense. As a result, these trips are considered improper and unlawful, since such expenses by contractors or suppliers have negative consequences. They might compromise by supplying low-quality materials or reducing work quality to make up for the costs. Moreover, after traveling at a company’s expense, officials often develop a bias toward that company. Even if the company supplies substandard products, they remain silent.
Former Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told Bonik Barta, “Everyone must follow the directives of the Chief Adviser’s Office regarding foreign trips. Violating them goes against government service rules.”
Meanwhile, many officials are reportedly using foreign travel approvals for personal gain. Citing government-approved training in Indonesia, Belal Hossain Chowdhury, a well-known member of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), has already traveled to Australia. He is currently under investigation for corruption allegations.
Records show that in an order signed on September 11 by Bibhishan Kanti Das, deputy secretary of the Internal Resources Division, Belal Chowdhury and 10 other officials received approval to participate in training on data center management and reporting in Indonesia. All expenses were covered by Star Tech & Engineering Limited (STEL).
However, according to travel documents, on Thursday (September 18) at 11:55 pm, Belal Hossain Chowdhury left Dhaka for Sydney, Australia, on a Singapore Airlines flight from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, although he was approved to attend training in Indonesia. The other NBR officials named in the same government order departed Dhaka directly for Indonesia on Saturday morning (September 20).
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director Dr. Iftekharuzzaman told Bonik Barta, “From the highest levels of the state, directives were issued to reduce foreign trips for government officials as part of cost-cutting measures. But the incidents of violations prove a tendency to disregard government instructions. Foreign trips funded by contractors and suppliers are even more unethical. When they finance such trips, they are not showing generosity toward the government. The cost they bear is always factored into the price of the work or supplies. So the argument that suppliers are providing free trips at no cost to the government is not acceptable. No supplier in the world spends from its own pocket; it’s part of their package.”
Calling supplier-funded foreign trips a conflict of interest, Dr. Iftekharuzzaman added, “It creates a sense of obligation and loyalty toward the supplier. Yet it is the officials’ responsibility to ensure whether we are receiving quality products and improved services. Taking trips funded by suppliers is clearly unethical and a violation of government directives. It is even more embarrassing now because, in the past, officials exploited foreign trips in the name of development to secure personal benefits for years. After August of last year, it was expected that this practice would end. But it hasn’t, because those seizing the opportunity now think, ‘We didn’t have this chance in the last 16 years, now it’s our turn.’ This shows that officials are pursuing personal interests, resorting to unethical practices, violating government instructions, and essentially turning training programs into pleasure trips or personal perks.”