Zulkarnain was born in Muar, Johore, in 1966.

    He received his primary education at Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Rahmat and his secondary education at Sekolah Menengah Sains Johor, Kluang.

             After passing his Higher School Certificate in 1983, Zulkarnain was
 awarded a Public Service Department or JPA’s  scholarship to pursue Economics and Statistics at the University of Minnesota, USA and graduated in 1989. Subsequently, he returned (became a tutor) and pursued a Master of Science (Economics) at the Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia.  During the course, he worked on a thesis (as a partial fulfillment) entitled “Determinants of FDI in the Manufacturing Sector of Malaysia”.  Upon completion of the Msc program in mid 1992, he was appointed as a lecturer in the Faculty of Economic, UPM.

              In November, 1995, Zulkarnain went to University of Manchester, United Kingdom to pursue a doctorate in  International Economics.  He worked on a thesis entitled "Capital Flight Determinants From the Selected  ASEAN Countries” and completed the  thesis in 1999 after which he returned to continue his service at the Faculty of Economics and Management, UPM.

His current research interest is in the area of international capital flows, foreign direct investment (FDI) and capital flight.  In terms of teaching, he has been teaching courses in Basic and Principle of Economics, Mathematical and International Economics as well as Public Finance.