Sarinder Kumari

Dr Sarinder has over 30 years of experience in policy and strategic planning, trade negotiations, regulatory and Government affairs. She has previously served Principal Assistant Secretary with the Ministry of Finance Malaysia (MOF); Senior Director, Ministry of International Trade and Industry Malaysia (MITI); Director, for the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) under the Prime Minister’s Department Malaysia; and Executive Vice-President and Partner for Pemandu Associates, a business management consultancy.

In MOF, she was involved in the raising of Federal Government loans from the international capital and bond markets, debt management and privatization projects. Her portfolio in MITI included the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Strategic Planning and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) Policy and Negotiations. She was also the lead negotiator for Services for Malaysia’s first Bilateral FTA.

In PEMANDU, she provided strategic direction on the planning and implementation of the Tourism-related initiatives under Malaysia’s National Transformation Programme. She was also responsible for the Strategic Reform Initiative encompassing the Competition Act, Adoption and Development of International Standards and the Liberalisation of Services. She developed the performance assessment and management system for the performance assessment of all Ministers by the Prime Minister.

In Pemandu Associates, she worked with Governments and businesses on strategy formulation and effective implementation to meet national and business objectives. This entailed working with both internal and external stakeholders to ensure both timely and effective policy and strategy execution for the delivery of tangible results.