The Minister of Defence, YB Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad Bin Haji Hasan and all the people of the Ministry of Defence congratulate YBhg. Datuk Seri Isham bin Ishak on his appointment as Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defence with effect from 26 September 2023.

Biography

Born in Johor in 1970, Datuk Isham successfully assisted Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in Malaysia while serving as the Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer at SME Corporation Malaysia, an agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry from 2014 to 2016.

Datuk Isham also served for 5 years in the United States, from 2006 to 2011, as Minister Counsellor (Economics) at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry Office in Washington D.C. where he successfully increased the flow of investments between both countries. He has also served as Special Officer and Senior Private Secretary to the Minister of International Trade and Industry and the fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Datuk Isham was appointed as Malaysia’s Chief Negotiator for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (RCEP) from 2016 to 2018. He was also Malaysia’s Deputy Chief Negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) – later known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – from 2011 to 2015.

He started serving as the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Transport Malaysia in 2019. He previously held the positions of Secretary General of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Deputy Secretary General (Trade) and later Secretary-General of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

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Menteri Pertahanan, YB Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad Bin Haji Hasan dan seluruh warga Kementerian Pertahanan mengucapkan setinggi-tinggi tahniah kepada YBhg. Datuk Seri Isham bin Ishak atas pelantikan sebagai Ketua Setiausaha Kementerian Pertahanan berkuat kuasa 26 September 2023.

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