Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah

Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah
Secretary General of the Treasury Ministry of Finance
In office 2011 – May 14, 2018
Succeeded by	Ismail Bakar
Personal details
Born	Mohd. Irwan Serigar bin Abdullah (1957-03-07) March 7, 1957 (age 64) Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
Alma mater	University of Malaya University of Pennsylvania International Islamic University

Mohd. Irwan Serigar bin Abdullah (born March 7, 1957) has served as the Secretary General of the Treasury in the Ministry of Finance from 2011 to May 14, 2018. Many know him as the Chairman of the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Center (MaGIC) and the founder and patron of the Global Entrepreneurship Movement (GEM), a non-government organization (NGO) which is a networking platform among entrepreneurs.^[1]

Abdullah has received various awards and degrees at the national and state levels including the Second Level of His Majesty the Setia Mahkota Malaysia, Commander of the Crown Faithful (P.S.M.) which carries the title of Tan Sri; First Degree of Sultan Ahmad Shah Pahang, Sri Sultan Ahmad Shah Pahang (S.S.A.P.), and Dato’ Paduka Setia Mahkota Kelantan (D.P.S.K.).

In addition, Abdullah also holds the portfolio of Secretary General of the Treasury at Central Bank and Executive Director at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia and Pendinginan Megajana Sdn. Bhd. Prior to that, he was appointed Deputy Under-Secretary in the Economic and International Division in the Ministry of Finance in 2007 and Under-Secretary in the same division in 2008.

Education[]

Abdullah obtained a Bachelor of Demographic Studies (Hons) from the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur in 1982 before furthering his studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA with a Master of Science in Energy, Management and Policy. At the doctor of philosophy level, he received his doctorate degree from the International Islamic University in Kuala Lumpur. He also participated in an advanced management program organized by the Harvard Business School during the Spring 2008 session.

Career[]

Early career[]

Abdullah started his career in the public sector in the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister's Department in 1984. His position at that time was as Assistant Director from 1984 to 1986. He then served as Assistant Director of Industry Division, Economic Planning Unit from 1986 to 1987. From 1987 to 1998, he was the Senior Assistant Director of the Energy Division. Beginning in 1999, he served as Senior Assistant Director of the Privatization Division, Economic Planning Unit. In 2003, he joined the Economic and International Division, Ministry of Finance as Chief Assistant Secretary. From 2004 to 2006, Abdullah was appointed as Head of Econometrics Section, Economic and International Division of the Ministry of Finance, subsequently appointed Head of Multi Lateral Relations in the same division in 2006. His career continued by holding the role of Deputy Secretary General (Policy) in 2011 and Secretary General of the Treasury in 2012.

Abdullah also served as a Director of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Berhad from November 29, 2012, to July 16, 2013; Non-Executive Director of Selangor Water Supply Company; Non-Independent Non-Executive Director of Padiberas Nasional Bhd. from August 26, 2011, to April 2013. He was also entrusted to hold the position of Non-Independent Non-Executive Director at AmanahRaya-JMF Asset Management Sdn. Bhd. and Manager of the AmanahRaya Property Investment Trust Fund since November 29, 2007. Apart from being involved in trust management at AmanahRaya, he is also one of the trustees in the National Equity Foundation.^[2]

He is also the secretary general of the treasurer of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).^[3]

Current career[]

In April 2016, The Wall Street Journal and Reuters predicted Abdullah will replace Zeti Akhtar Aziz as the Governor of Central Bank. Abdullah has been the chairman and investment panel member at the Retirement Fund (KWAP) since August 24, 2012.^[4][5] He is also a member of the Blue Ocean Strategy Group (NBOS) in the Economic Planning Unit, PRO3-Based Learning Project Steering Committee at the Germany-Malaysia Institute (GMI) also the Strategic API Steering Committee and the Strategic Planning Panel at the Ministry of Finance. He was once invited as one of the Chief Executive Officers in the CEO@Faculty Program by the Ministry of Higher Education hosted by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) during 2015–2016.^[6] During his leadership era in the Ministry of Finance, Malaysia gained recognition in the Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum 2017–2018.^[7] In May 2017, he was given the role of leading TRX City and Bandar Malaysia.^[8]

Under the governance of Abdullah as the Secretary General of the Treasury, Ministry of Finance implements various initiatives such as National Transformation 2050 and National Sandbox Regulation.^[9] On February 8, 2018, Abdullah through MaGIC implemented another initiative with his partners, pioneering the Malaysian Socially Participating and Dynamic Entrepreneurship (MasSIVE) movement. Among MaGIC's partners are Impact4Humanity, iM4U, myHarapan, Malaysian Innovation Agency (AIM), Yayasan Hasanah, eFM, and ngohub.asia.

Honors[]

Abdullah is the recipient of various awards and degrees at the federal, state and administrative levels, including in the Economic Planning Unit. The awards he received include the 1989 Outstanding Service Award in the Economic Planning Unit, the 1989 Outstanding Service Award in the Prime Minister's Department, the 1996 Outstanding Service Award in the Economic Planning Unit, and the 2005 Outstanding Service Award in the Ministry of Finance. He also received the Best Working Paper award at the First International Conference of the Asian Applied Business Academy in 2003.

References[]