Ramon Mangahas Lopez is a Filipino businessman who served as the Secretary of Trade and Industry under the Duterte administration from 2016 to 2022. After his term as Department of Trade and Industry Secretary, he was elected as

Independent Director An independent director (also sometimes known as an outside director) is a member of a board of directors who does not have a material or pecuniary relationship with company or related persons, except sitting fees. In the United States, indepen ...

of SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) on August 03, 2022. Prior to his appointment as DTI secretary, he was the Vice President and Executive Assistant to the President and CEO of

RFM Corporation RFM Corporation () is a publicly listed food and beverage company in the Philippines. RFM is a manufacturer of flour and flour-based products, milk, juice drinks and ice cream. As of June 2013, RFM had an asset base of P12 billion and a to ...

, having served for the company for 22 years, and Executive Director of Go Negosyo of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship. During his stint as DTI secretary, Lopez urged small and medium enterprises to shift to digital technology in order to become more competitive. He built partnerships with the private sector, such as with Filipino financial technology companies Investree and First Circle, to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on the income of local businesses. Lopez topped his Master in

Development Economics Development economics is a branch of economics which deals with economic aspects of the development process in low- and middle- income countries. Its focus is not only on methods of promoting economic development, economic growth and structural ...

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kille ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

(1988) and finished his AB Economics degree at the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

in 1981. He has contracted a

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

infection for the third time.

References

Living people 20th-century Filipino businesspeople Secretaries of Trade and Industry of the Philippines Duterte administration cabinet members Year of birth missing (living people) Williams College alumni 21st-century Filipino businesspeople {{philippines-bio-stub