She held the post of head of department from 2003 to 2006 and has been the Coordinator of the IIUM Globalization and WTO Unit since 2003. Rokiah Alavi received her Bachelor of Economics with first class honors from the University of Malaya. She obtained her Masters in Development Economics and her PhD from the University of East Anglia, UK. Her research interest is in the area of international trade and development economics. She has published a book entitled Import Substitution Industrialisation Strategy: Infant Industries in Malaysia, Routledge (1996), and many articles in international and local journals.