Zulkifli Hasan

Zulkifli Hasan (born 17 May 1962) is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is currently serving as Minister of Trade since 15 June 2022.

He attended a local elementary school from 1969 to 1975.

At age 13, his father took him to Tanjungkarang (now called Bandar Lampung) to enroll him in junior high school level at the State Islamic Teachers Training School (PGAN), against the boy's wishes.

While attending PGAN, Zulkifli lived in a rented room in lodgings for boarders.

He left PGAN in his fourth year at the school.

He took an entrance exam for Madrasah Tsanawiah and passed.

Without parental consent, he enrolled at Tandjungkarang State Senior High School.

After four months, his father discovered he had switched schools and forced him to leave the high school.

Armed with a little money from his mother, Zul moved to Jakarta.

There, he attended State Senior High School 53 and graduated in 1982.

In 1986, he enrolled at the Faculty of Economics at Krisnadwipayana University (Unkris) in Jakarta and financed his studies independently.

Zulkifli was active in the Muhammadiyah mass Muslim organization, whose members were among the founders of the National Mandate Party (PAN) in 1998.

His first political forays included chairing the Regional Board of Farmers and Fishermen of Lampung Province, serving as deputy chairman of Lampung Sai Community Society, and initiating the Lampung Youth Union in Jakarta.

He chaired Muhammadiyah's Institute of Agricultural Laborers and Fishermen for Jakarta from 2000 to 2005.

He chaired the Logistics Department of PAN's Central Board from 2000 to 2005.

In 2003, he graduated from PPM School of Management.

Having been raised in a farming family, Zulkifli was motivated to seek success beyond a rural environment.

He later became deputy chairman of PAN's faction in the House of Representatives, serving as a member of parliament from 2004 to 2009.

In 2012, he supported a program of the National Mandate Party (PAN) that provided venture capital and training for young entrepreneurs in North Sumatra.

Additionally, he served as speaker of the MPR from 2014 to 2019 and was Minister of Environment and Forestry from 2009 until 2014.

Zulkifli Hasan was born to Hasan and Siti Zaenab, who were farmers in Pisang village in Penengahan, South Lampung.

In later life, he would claim to have experienced economic hardship as a child, saying he learned to work hard by selling eggs produced on the farm.

A member of the Islam-based National Mandate Party, he is also currently serving as the party's chairman since 2015.

In a 2015 interview, he said his parents had wanted him to become like Buya Hamka, an Islam-oriented journalist and author from Sumatra.

"But I refused. I wanted to migrate to Jakarta."

Arriving in Jakarta as a teenager without prior acquaintances or relatives, Zulkifli supported himself with jobs from washing taxis to selling drinks.

He graduated from high school with the highest achievement in his class.

He then tried his luck as a door-to-door salesman of pots and later attended college while doing business.

After exploring various areas of business, he began working for an ethnic Chinese businessman who sold home furnishings.

In his later years, Zulkifli once visited Lembaga Pendidikan Insani (LPI), an educational institution whose operational costs came from Islamic donations.

He told students there: "If I ate eggs and could become a minister, then you who eat chicken should be able to become president."

Bang (Brother) Zul, as he was known, remained close to the people of his hometown in Lampung and would present assistance in times of disaster.

Before becoming a politician, Zulkifli worked as a civil servant and then started his business.

His father had advised him not to be a follower but to be a leader, even if that meant starting from something small, so he quit the civil service.

His older brother, Herli Hasan, says Zulkifli left the civil service because the salary was low.

Zulkifli's subsequent corporate positions included:

After starting his political career, he did not abandon his entrepreneurial interests.

He became a motivator for young people and the wider community, particularly in Sumatra, to develop entrepreneurship and create new jobs.

He encouraged rural youths to help advance Indonesia's future economic growth.

Previously, he served as deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) from 2019 until 2022.