MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Marking a new beginning in leadership at the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the first Monday of June 2024 saw Romleah Pulido Ocampo officially take the helm as the agency’s new Executive Director (ED). She previously held the position of Regional Director for Region 2 of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Delivering her first address, the new Executive Director thanked Officer-In-Charge Malou Mediran for the opportunity and support in her new lead role. She shared her vision for a reinvigorated, stronger CITEM that will reassert its place as the lead export promotions arm of the country. “We shall be collaborative and strategic, inclusive, and an important and indispensable part of a robust ecosystem that supports MSME development, industry development, and export development.”
Part of her plans includes reinvigorating the CITEM corporation and its brand as a whole, enhancing its core mandate and institutional strengths toward unmatched credibility and industry authority in export promotions. She expects the organization to intensify its efforts in all of CITEM’s channels and platforms, including its social media presence. Additionally, CITEM will focus on expanding regional export development and participation throughout the country. She also stressed the importance of building more partnerships through the activation of other sectors, such as research and development institutions, the academe, and local government units, among others.
The CITEM leader also expects more initiatives toward adapting global best practices and marketing benchmarks while simultaneously encouraging development and training and providing other efficiency tools crucial for capacitating the agency workforce.
A homegrown talent of CITEM, Executive Director Ocampo began her career at CITEM in 1984, rising through the ranks and building a solid 23-year career in export marketing and promotions, as well as industry and MSME development. Resuming her government service career in 2009, she continued to excel in her craft, overseeing many of CITEM’s signature export promotions events as she led the project management team for Manila FAME, IFEX Philippines, CREATEPhilippines, and overseas trade fairs across the globe.
She pressed on as a prominent force in various development programs when she moved to DTI Region 2 in 2019. With her directorship came key positions that further immersed her in the challenges faced by MSMEs and tested her mettle in transformative public service. Her committed efforts have delivered capacity-building opportunities for the agri sector in the Cagayan Valley Region, which covers the provinces of Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino, and Nueva Vizcaya.
Innovative and responsive initiatives have always been a signature of ED Ocampo’s body of work. During her tenure in Cagayan, she helped bridge the gap between supply and demand chains during harvest season and calamities with the Walang Sayang Project, creating a conducive space for digital and financial literacy for local farmers. In July 2021, the Buy Local Advocacy she set in motion for the region became official, resulting in guaranteed sales for local MSMEs. Under this resolution, government agencies and units are to appropriate 10% of their procurement budget for local products. Today, more than 90% of the region’s LGUs are helping sustain the local market with this advocacy.
Ending her speech, she underscored the need for CITEM’s goals and work programs to be aligned with those of the DTI while reminding everyone that “the way we measure our success is by realistically defining our success measures.”
A nationwide top three Career Executive Service Officer III of her CESWE batch and qualified by a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences with majors in Economics and Sociology from the University of the Philippines, Executive Director Ocampo earned her Masters degree in Government Management at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.
