Mr. Sartaj Aziz is a development economist and obtained a degree in commerce from the Punjab University in Pakistan and subsequently a Masters' degree in development economics from Harvard University, USA in 1963.

His career can be divided in four phases: The first phase as a civil servant lasted from 1952 to 1970 in the Ministry of Finance and in the Planning Commission, where he was Joint Secretary, Plan Coordination in 1967 and received the award of Sitara-e-Khidmat for his contribution.

In 1971, he began his 12 year international career, when he joined FAO as Director of Commodities and Trade Division in Rome. In 1974, he served as Deputy Secretary General of the World Food Conference, held in Rome in November 1974 and was one of the architects of the global food security system which emerged from the Conference and of the proposal to establish the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). In 1977, after serving as Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Council, he joined IFAD as Assistant President as it opened its doors in December 1977. He played a significant role in designing IFAD's lending policies to focus on the poor.

The third phase of Mr. Aziz career started in 1984 when he returned to Pakistan to begin his political career as Minister of State for Food and Agriculture, a position he occupied for four years. He served as Finance Minster from August 1990 to June 1993 and again from February 1997 to August 1998. He was Pakistan's Foreign Minster from August 1998 to October 1999. He was elected to the Pakistan Senate in March 1985 and remained its member till October 1999.

In 2004, he started a new and fourth phase of his eventful career, when he accepted the offer to become the Vice Chancellor of the Beaconhouse National University at Lahore.

Mr. Aziz has written several books and articles. His most important contribution to development literature was his book on China, “Rural Development: Learning from China”, which was published by Macmillan from London in 1978.