Dr. Rafaelita “Fita” M. Aldaba is 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.