The board, which gives the President advice and policy recommendations on global competitiveness, has 13 members, all international business leaders of experience and achievement.
The Iberia CEO accepted the invitation as "a great honor and privilege".
De Irala’s ties to the country goes back to his student days in De La Salle University where he took up mechanical engineering and MBA studies. He is also president of the Philippine-Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
The other members of the board are J.P. Morgan senior adviser Stephen Bosworth, former Australian Prime Minister Paul J. Keating, Lloyds TSB Group chair Maarten van de Bergh, Unilever NV chair Antony Burgmans, Goldman Sachs managing director E. Gerard Corrigan, London Business School dean Laura D’ Andrea Tyson, Mirant CEO Marce Fuller, Li & Fung chair Victor K. Fung, AIG chair Maurice Greenberg, Avon Products chair Andrea Jung, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone president Jun-Ichiro Miyazu, Zuellig Group chair Stephen Zuellig.