REPORT LAUNCH A New Dawn for Global Value Chain Participation in the Philippines

At the time of Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual’s appointment to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in June 2022, he was the President of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP). From 2011to 2017, Secretary Pascual was the President  and  Co-Chair of the  University  of  the Philippines (UP)–a system of eight constituent universities with 17 campuses across the country. Over the past four decades, Mr. Pascual has contributed to society serving at four esteemed national and international institutions, viz.: Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) as President and  CEO in 2018 and 2019; University  of  the  Philippines  (UP)  System  as  President and Co-Chair from 2011 to 2017 and as Alumni Regent in 2009 and 2010; Asian Development Bank (ADB) for 19 years (1989-2008) in several positions including as Director for Private Sector Operations, Director for Project Finance, and Advisor for Public-Private Partnership; and Asian Institute of Management (AIM) as a finance professor in the 1980s. Mr. Pascual finished his MBA and BS in Chemistry (cum laude) at UP. He attended the EC-ASEAN Program on Strategic and Organizational Change at the Euro-Asia Centre, Campus INSEAD, France. Among his awards are Honorary Doctorates from UP and four other universities, Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award from Malacanang,  Rotary Golden Wheel Award for Higher Education, and Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Award from the UP Alumni Association.

Ndiame Diop leads and provides strategic direction to the World Bank programs in these countries. An economist by profession, Mr. Diop has been working at the World Bank for 21 years. Prior to his current role, he was for four years the Practice Manager of the Macroeconomics Department for South East Asia and Pacific countries, based in Jakarta and Bangkok. He has also previously worked in the South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa regions of the Bank. Ndiamé joined the World Bank in Washington DC as a Young Professional in 2000 and has published numerous articles and book chapters on fiscal policy and debt sustainability, monetary policy, trade policy and diversification, economic growth and poverty reduction.

Ms. Haddad, a Lebanese national, joined the Bank in 1992 as a Young Professional and has since held various positions across the WBG. In her most recent assignment as Director of the Country Economics and Engagement department at the International Finance Corporation, she led the development of the WBG Country Private Sector Diagnostics. Before this, she was also the Practice Manager of the WBG’s Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice in East Asia and Sector Manager of the International Trade Department. 

Souleymane Coulibaly is the Lead Economist and Program Leader for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions Practice Group for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. Before moving to Manila, he was the Program Leader and Lead Economist for Central Africa covering a diverse set of countries: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, and Sao Tome and Principe. Before joining the World Bank as a Young Professional in September 2006, he used to be lecturer at the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Statistiques et d’Economie Appliquée (ENSEA) of Abidjan, teaching assistant at the University of Lausanne, and economist at the Economic and International Relations department of NESTLE in Vevey, Switzerland.

Undersecretary Rodolfo Undersecretary for Industry Development and Trade Policy, Usec. Perry has been leading the crafting and implementation of the Philippine industrial policy and international trade negotiation agenda–firmly ensuring that domestic industrial goals should drive international positions (and not the reverse), as well as the Philippine government’s bilateral trade and investment engagements with key partner economies. Concurrently Managing Head of the Board of Investments (BOI), Usec. Perry also sits on the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Board and Chairs the committee that coordinates the 18 investment promotion agencies across the country. Usec. Perry obtained his Economics Degree from the University of the Philippines and his Master of Science in Industrial Economics on full scholarship from the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany, from the Center for Research and Communication (CRC), now known as the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P). He likewise holds a Doctorate degree in Public Administration from the National College of Public Administration and Governance of the University of the Philippines.

Ms. Juvy C. Danofrata is the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Finance and has been assigned to head the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) secretariat following the approval and enactment of Republic Act No. 11534, known as the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises law or CREATE. Ms. Danofrata started with the Domestic Finance Group of the DOF as a senior economist in 2004 where she handled tax policy formulation and analysis, particularly direct taxation. In 2015, she was appointed as Director IV of the same office and spearheaded the institutionalization of publishing the tax expenditures from investment incentives in the budget document of the government, which led to the enactment of the “Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act" (TIMTA). She, likewise, led the technical team which formulated the second package of the comprehensive tax reform program covering reforms in the corporate income taxation and the fiscal incentives system. Assistant Secretary Danofrata received her Master’s degree in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore in 2011, completing the track of Public Management and Governance as her area of specialization.

Mr. Lachica has over 40 years of senior management experience in semiconductors, electronics and consumer goods manufacturing, 16 of which were in front-end semiconductor wafer manufacturing in Silicon Valley. Prior to his early retirement from the Lopez Group of companies, he was a Senior Vice President with First Philippine Holdings Corp. and concurrent President of the group’s electronics/solar manufacturing companies. He returned to the Philippines in 1996 as the expatriate Managing Director of Iomega Corporation of Utah. He also held leadership positions at Hewlett Packard in California, Motorola in Arizona, American Microsystems Inc. in Idaho, and Procter & Gamble in the Philippines, among others. Dan is an expert in world-class initiatives such as Six Sigma (Black Belt & U.S. IQPC Judge), Balanced Score Card, and Total Productive Maintenance. A licensed Electrical Engineer, he had received several awards including the Dr. Joseph Juran National Medal from the Philippine Society for Quality, and Outstanding Electrical Engineer from the University of the Philippines.

Amit Jagga is the Senior Vice President & Country Leader at Concentrix Philippines, a global leader in customer engagement services. In this role, Amit is responsible for the management of Concentrix’ 48 operating sites and approximately 100K staff in the Philippines. Amit is a seasoned leader with experience in multiple roles within the organization over the last 20 years, spanning across multiple verticals and geos. He was part of the Concentrix India Leadership team for many years before taking on leadership roles in the Philippines. He has a proven track record of managing large teams and is extremely passionate about developing leaders for the future. After completing his undergraduate course in business management, Amit went for Executive Post Graduate Course from XLRI in India. He has also done Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School, and Executive Leadership course from eCornell University. He has also participated in other short-term executive programs from Columbia University, Tuck School of Business and Indian Institute of Management (IIM).

Ms. Niang, a dual Senegalese and French national, is the Practice Manager for East Asia and Pacific, covering the Pacific Islands, Indonesia/Timor, the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia for the Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation Global Practice at the World Bank Group. Since joining the Bank in 2004, she has held various positions working on long-term infrastructure finance, climate finance, financial inclusion; firm capabilities and innovation; markets and technology; investment and competition, telecoms and digital development. Niang’s prior positions at the World Bank Group before assuming her current position spent 6 years in the Latin America & the Caribbean region, as Lead Economist in Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation Global Practice and as Program Leader for the Caribbean countries. She held Country Sector Coordinator and Senior Economist positions in the World Bank’s Finance and Private Sector Development department, in South Asia and Africa.

Salve Duplito is the founder and the president of Empower and Transform, a young company composed of a dynamic team that promotes the advancement of financial education for Filipinos here and overseas. Salve is also the resident Financial Adviser of On The Money, a personal finance show aired on the ABS-CBN News Channel, where she has a regular segment called “Salve Says.” She is also the Managing Producer and Head Writer of the show where she shares personal finance tips and strategies and widens the discussion on financial consumer and investing issues that face viewers today. The show has won the Gawad Tanglaw Awards for Business Show Category thrice and the Dangal ng Bayan Awards twice. Aside from On The Money, Salve is currently a co-host of Diskarte, a business and personal finance show aired every Saturday at 1:00 PM on DZMM TeleRadyo. She was also financial journalist for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Inquirer Interactive, and  BusinessWorld, winning prestigious awards for her articles like the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Investigative Journalism, EJAP/Metropacific Banking and Finance Reporter of the Year, and the Citibank Award for Excellence.