Zafrul Aziz

Tengku Zafrul bin Tengku Abdul Aziz (, ; born 25 June 1973) is a Malaysian politician, banker and investor who has served as the Senior Political Advisor to the Prime Minister since March 2026, Chairman of Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) since December 2025 and the 13th President of Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) since May 2025. He served as the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry in the Unity Government administration under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim from April 2023 to December 2025. He is a member of the People's Justice Party (PKR), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and was a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the BN coalition. He has also been an Ex-officio Member of the Political Bureau of PKR since January 2026. He was also a Member of the UMNO Supreme Council and Division Chief of UMNO of Kota Raja from March 2023 to his departure from the party in May 2025.

Early life and education Tengku Zafrul was born on 25 June 1973 and is the eldest of four siblings. His mother, Raja Datuk Zaharaton Raja Zainal Abidin, is the former Director-General Of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister's Department of Malaysia and his father, Tengku Abdul Aziz Tengku Haris, is a businessman. He continued his studies at Malay College Kuala Kangsar and then studied A-Level at Sherborne School in Dorset, United Kingdom (UK). He graduated from the University of Bristol, UK with a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in economics and accounting, and obtained a Master of Arts (MA) in Finance and Management from the University of Exeter, UK. From 2017 to 2019, Tengku Zafrul completed his second master's degree for Executive Master in Business Administration (EMBA) at Tsinghua University PBCSF (People's Bank of China School of Finance). He is also a Fellow Chartered Banker with the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers.

Other positions AmInvestment Bank (corporate finance executive) (June 1996 – April 1997) Credit Agricole (investment analyst and director) (May 1997 – August 1998) & (July 1999 – March 2001) He also was given the Malaysian Business Leadership Award in the year 2009.

Television and other media Tengku Zafrul was one of the judges of the corporate reality television series The Firm.

Political career On 9 March 2020, Tengku Zafrul was appointed in Muhyiddin's cabinet as Minister of Finance after being made a Senator. He was also CEO and executive director of the CIMB Bank Berhad and president commissioner of the PT Bank CIMB Niaga Tbk.

Minister of Finance He started his first term from March 2020 to August 2021 as well as Coordinating Minister of the National Recovery Plan from July 2021 to August 2021 in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration under former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and later for his tenure for the second term in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob from August 2021 to November 2022. As he was not an elected Member of Parliament (MP), he was appointed as an independent Senator twice in March 2020 and again in December 2022, in order to assume his duties as the first technocratic Minister of Finance in March 2020 as he was also the first independent individual in terms of active political party association, to be appointed minister of finance in the Malaysian history.

He embarked on a task to assist the people and industry in the implementation of the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. Tengku Zafrul also explains the economic recovery plan will be announced after Aidilfitri to revive the affected economy of Malaysia. Under the Short-Term Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA), Tengku Zafrul has launched the ePenjana credit program worth RM750 million to aimed at boosting consumer spending in Malaysia. On 6 November 2020, Tengku Zafrul presented the 2021 budget in the Parliament to ensure that the economy revives and benefits the people.

In June 2022, Tengku Zafrul announced the largest subsidies and cash aid package in Malaysian history (77.3 billion ringgit) for the year 2022, in order to temper the effect of inflation.

Minister of International Trade and Industry He first served as Minister of International Trade and Industry in the PH administration under Prime Minister Anwar from December 2022 to April 2023, before the ministry was renamed to Investment, Trade, and Industry.

UMNO and BN Tengku Zafrul began his active political career in July 2022 when he was appointed the State Treasurer of Barisan Nasional (BN) Selangor. He subsequently became the State Treasurer of UMNO Selangor in April 2023, a position he held until his resignation in April 2024.

In March 2023, he was elected as the UMNO Division Chief for Kota Raja, and in the same year, he won a seat on the UMNO Supreme Council in the 2023 United Malays National Organisation leadership election.

On 30 May 2025, Tengku Zafrul officially resigned from UMNO, vacating his positions as Supreme Council member and Kota Raja Division Chief. His departure marked the end of his nearly three-decade-long affiliation with the party, having first joined UMNO in 1997.

Transition to PKR Following his resignation from UMNO, Tengku Zafrul announced his intention to join the People’s Justice Party (PKR). He stated that the decision came after careful reflection and consultation with colleagues, including UMNO President Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. He has since informed PKR leadership of his intent and went through the standard application process to become a member.

Personal life Tengku Zafrul is married to Raja Datin Seri Utama Johanna Adrina Raja Arshad, a member of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan royal family. The couple have two daughters and two sons.

Since his school days, Tengku Zafrul was interested in sports such as hockey and ran for recreation. He is also a fan of the football club, Liverpool F.C., which plays in the English Premier League.

Election results

Honours Honours of Malaysia

Foreign honours