He was then recognized as the youngest administrator in the history of the national government and received the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM) award in 1975.
As Secretary of Finance, de Ocampo introduced and implemented a number of important policies and measures, particularly in the areas of economic liberalization, privatization and tax reform.
This resulted in the Philippines’ return to international capital markets after a decade-long absence, the first fiscal surplus in twenty years, and an unprecedented and sustained combination of healthy economic growth, low interest rates and single-digit inflation.
The liberalization of the banking and insurance industries opened up these sectors to foreign investment and marked the exit of the Philippines from a nearly continuous thirty years of IMF economic rehabilitation and reform programs.
In September 2001, he was named to the Ordre National de la Legion d' Honneur by the Republic of France with the rank of Chevalier for his successful efforts and initiatives to promote closer Philippine-France relations.