Tan Sri Effendi Norwawi was the Federal Minister of Agriculture Malaysia (1999–2004) during which time he initiated the modernization and commercialization of agriculture. His last post in Cabinet was the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Economic Planning Unit (EPU) (2006- 2008) . Effendi also served as a state assemblyman (ADUN) in Sarawak for nine years (between 1991 to 1999). He was a member of Federal

Parliament from 1999 to 2004 and later a Senator in the Upper House of Parliament (2006 to 2011). He retired from politics in 2011.

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Effendi was most recently the Executive Chairman of Encorp Berhad, A property development company he founded in 1995 and listed on the main board of the KLSE in February 2003, which he recently divested.

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In media Effendi had collaborated with Bloomberg L.P. and was Chairman of Bloomberg TV Malaysia (2014 – 2016). He also founded ntv7 in 1998, the private free-to-air TV channel that he has since divested.

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Effendi was Executive Chairman of Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC), which he led for 15 years (1981–1995) (See Appendix 5). He was the Chairman of Bank Utama (now part of the RHB Banking Group) between 1990 and 1995 during which time he led its turnaround into one of the major banks in Malaysia then. Effendi attended the prestigious Malay College Kuala Kangsar from 1961 to 1967. Effendi holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree majoring in Development Administration from the University of Tasmania. He was also conferred an Honorary Degree of the Doctor of Law from the same University in October 2000. He was made Adjunct Professor under the Faculty of Business at the University of Tasmania in November 2008.

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In September 2013, Swinburne University appointed Effendi as Adjunct Professor within the Faculty of Business and Design in recognition of his well-established success in Business and Property Development.

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In October 2017, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (Malaysian National University) awarded him Honorary Doctorate Degree (Public and Corporate Leadership) in appreciation for his services to the development of education in the region, particularly in the area of public and corporate leadership.