Vinod Sekhar

DATUK VINOD SEKHAR Vinod Sekhar is currently the President and Group Chief Executive of The Petra Group. He is 46 and began his business career while still in college where he started the Vincent Siefer Clothing Co. and formed the Sitavani Foundation, which focuses its attention on the education of children and on child development programs. In 1990, he formed the STI Group with partners and was responsible for some groundbreaking businesses such as the world’s smallest optic engine, Southeast Asia’s first commercial Internet company, and a variety of other technology innovations. The multimedia arm of the group was also responsible for the first Malaysian joint venture to produce a movie at Disney MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida (Tarzan: The Epic Adventures). After 1997, STI merged with other international interests and The Petra Group was created. Petra is a technology conglomerate responsible for several global technology developments related to Elastomer recycling (Green Rubber), deproteinization, HIV treatment programs, innovative financial software, biophotonics and biofuels. Datuk Vinod was also one of the first Malaysians to venture into the former Soviet Union after its breakup and was a part of the privatization of its second largest petrochemical plant. He was also the first Southeast Asian to own both Formula 2000 and Formula 3 Championship motorsports teams, and he founded Malaysia’s first sports car company. Datuk Vinod also started East Asia’s largest fruit and vegetable farm in Malaysia, 3 years before the Prime Minister called for the development of commercial vegetable farms critical to Malaysia. Datuk Vinod has presented a variety of papers at and participated in many international conferences including the International Human Rights Conference in Brussels, the first Malaysian International Youth Conference for Unity in Kuala Lumpur, the Asia Europe Young Leaders Conference in Ireland, the New Asian Leaders Retreat in Seoul, Korea. A programmer for the World Economic Forum, the WEF’s Davos Annual meeting, he was the Chair of the first New Asian Leaders–Emerging Arab Leaders Summit in Langkawi, which was attended by King Abdullah II of Jordan, and he was a speaker at the 2005 Forbes Global CEO Conference in Sydney. Datuk Vinod is the Chairman of the Sekhar Foundation (which he founded and which currently plays a role in the lives of over 12,000 children globally), the Chairman of the Pelita Harapan (Lantern of Hope) for terminally ill chi