A TOTAL of RM18.6mil was spent by the government on official overseas visits by Cabinet members from January to April this year, says Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali.
In a written reply to Mohd Nazri Abu Hassan (PN-Merbok) yesterday, the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said there were 64 official visits abroad by ministers during this period, all approved by the Cabinet.
Of the total, 15 were for the Prime Minister, followed by the Foreign Ministry with nine.
“The official visits were to help the government strengthen economically through trade cooperation and foreign direct investments,” he said.
Armizan said the Prime Minister also used the Airbus government executive jet maintained by the Prime Minister’s Department, nine times for official duties overseas.
Seventeen other working trips to domestic destinations were also made using government executive aircraft maintained by the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
“The planes are official government aircraft, with all incurred costs appropriate with the service and management of the aircraft involved,” he said in a written reply to Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudeen (PN-Alor Setar).
Afnan Hamimi had asked the Prime Minister to indicate the total cost incurred for private jet usage from December 2022 to April 2023.
