Investment Talks: FDI and Post-Pandemic Recovery in the Philippines

AmCham Philippines

AmCham came to life in 1902 as the Manila Coffee Round Table and later as Manila Merchants Association. Incorporated in 1920, it has since then recognized and reconfirmed the commitment of American business to the development and welfare of the Philippines and the Filipino people.

This is a commitment of long-standing, as its mission statement declares:

The Chamber exists to serve the interests of U.S. businesses through the participation of members in promoting their long-term objectives while contributing to the civic and economic development of the Philippines.”

Event Details

Join AmCham's Trade and Investment Committee in its next iteration of the Investment Talks Series on November 23, 2021, from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM. In this webinar, we will dive deep into foreign direct investments in Asia and the Philippines in the backdrop of a post-pandemic recovery landscape.

This webinar is FREE of charge

Register here

Speaker and Reactors

Dr. Hazel C. Parcon-Santos, PhD

Economist at Center for Monetary and Financial Policy, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Rafaelita Aldaba

Undersecretary at Competitiveness and Innovation Group of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)

Cielito F. Habito, PH.D.

Chair | Director of Brain Trust Inc. | Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development

Dr. Rafaelita "Fita" M. Aldaba is an Undersecretary for the Competitiveness and Innovation Group of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). She fulfills a key role in the formulation and implementation of the Inclusive Innovation Industrial Strategy (i3S), which puts innovation at the heart of the country’s new industrial policy. Undersecretary Aldaba is also a Governor of the Philippine Board of Investments (BOI), the country’s primary industry development arm and lead investment promotion agency (IPA). She is leading DTI’s initiatives in preparing industries for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and digital transformation, establishing Regional Inclusive Innovation Centers (RIICs), developing new creative industries, and growing a robust startup ecosystem. She oversees the administration and operations of the Competitiveness Bureau (CB), Philippine Accreditation Bureau (PAB), and Bureau of Trade and Industrial Policy Research (BTIPR). A researcher turned policymaker, Undersecretary Aldaba was Senior Research Fellow and Acting Vice-President of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) prior to her previous appointment as Assistant Secretary of DTI’s Industry Development and Trade Policy Group (IDTPG). She has extensive research experience, authored various publications on development issues, and conceptualized and managed research projects with various international organizations, including The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the United States Agency for International Development.

Dr. Habito is a Professor in the Department of Economics of the Ateneo de Manila University, where he is currently a Senior Fellow and was Director of the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development in 2001-2012. He currently heads the USAID Trade-Related Assistance for Development (TRADE) Project. In 1992-1998, he served in the Cabinet of President Fidel V. Ramos as Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning. He had also worked at the World Bank, taught at Harvard University, and was Visiting Fellow at the Asian Development Bank Institute in Tokyo. He writes the regular “No Free Lunch” op-ed column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, sits in the boards of several corporations and foundations, and is Chairman of Brain Trust Inc. and Operation Compassion Philippines. He holds a Ph.D. and Master of Arts in Economics from Harvard University, Master of Economics from the University of New England (Australia), and Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics, Summa cum Laude from the University of the Philippines.