Zulkifli Hasan (born 17 May 1962) is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is currently serving as Minister of Trade since 15 June 2022. Previously, he served as deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) from 2019 until 2022. A member of the Islam-based National Mandate Party, he is also currently serving as the party's chairman since 2015. Additionally, he served as speaker of the MPR from 2014 to 2019 and was Minister of Environment and Forestry from 2009 until 2014. Childhood and education 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 learnt to work hard by selling eggs produced on the farm. 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. In 2003, he graduated from PPM School of Management. A self-made man Having been raised in a farming family, Zulkifli was motivated to seek success beyond a rural environs. 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