Government officials’ told to take the bus

Get the lead out: the government is trying to save money by cutting down on the purchase of cars

Deputy Finance Minister Tran Van Ta described the move as positive because it would lead to large savings for the state budget when it comes into effect.
The decision will affect the ministers, deputy ministers, and heads of local authorities in 64 provinces who are due to be appointed at the end of the second quarter.
The officials will be given an allowance to cover their transport expenses, and state agencies will be able to hire transport companies.
The moratorium comes after evidence showed that many officials use government vehicles for personal trips such as travelling and visiting friends on top of commuting from home to work or attending meetings.
Pham Anh Tuan, an official from the Vietnam Automobile Assemblers Association, said that the automobile market and manufacturers “won’t be strongly affected by the decision.”
Of the 35,000 cars sold by local automobile manufacturers last year, Tuan estimates that only about 1,000 were purchased by state agencies and state-owned enterprises.
“For example, about 95 per cent of the recently launched Innova models have been sold to privately owned enterprises and individual customers,” Tuan said.
“However, some local automobile manufacturers will be affected by the decision as they sell hundreds of cars to state agencies each year,” he said.
The Ministry of Finance estimates that it costs VND7 million ($450) each month to keep a deputy minister’s car on the road, because of the costs of oil and petrol, maintenance and the driver’s salary.
On top of this, each of the deputy ministers’ cars costs about VND700 million ($45,000), and there are about 150 deputy ministers in over 20 ministries and agencies.
Deputy Industry Minister Do Huu Hao said that without government vehicles, the work of some officials will be hindered and officials could be reluctant to travel for work.
He also recommended that the transport allowance should be set at different levels depending on the functions of the ministries and department. “In some ministries, leaders have to travel a lot each month,” he said.
The chairman of the central province of Quang Nam, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, recently signed a decision to establish a bus fleet to transport important public servants.
Ta said the law “has permitted organisations and agencies to hire transport firms to carry their staff and officials for work”.
One of the leading automobile manufacturers in Vietnam, Toyota, recently announced that it will drop the price on some of its models to attract more customers this year.



No. 748/February 13-19, 2006