Expert Profile
V. Bruce J. Tolentino
Director for Economic Reform and Development Programs
Expertise: Economic Reform and Development, ASEAN Economics, Agriculture and Rural Development, Governance and Decentralization, NGOs and Development
Dr. Bruce Tolentino directs and manages The Asia Foundation's economic reform and development programs. A citizen of the Philippines, he served as Assistant Minister then Deputy Minister for Policy and Planning in the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines from 1989-1993, as well as Executive Director of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council of the Central Bank of the Philippines from 1986-1990. He has served as team leader and chief of party for projects funded by the World Bank, ADB, USAID, UNDP, FAO and other donors in Asia and Africa. His many technical assistance assignments include: Deputy Program Manager of the CARERE/SEILA (Decentralization) Program of UNDP in Cambodia from 1994-1996; Chief Technical Adviser on International Trade to the Government of Vietnam, under an FAO project in 2000-2002; Senior Adviser on Policy, Planning and Reorganization to the Government of the Philippines under an ADB project in 1997-2000; and Senior Economic Advisor to the Supreme National Economic Council of Cambodia under an ADB project from 2002-2004.
Bruce also has extensive NGO experience, most recently serving as Senior Technical Advisor for Catholic Relief Services of the US Catholic Conference of Bishops with regional responsibilities for agriculture, natural resources management, and sustainable livelihoods programs for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. In the context of his service in various UN agencies and NGOs he has also gained experience in post-emergency recovery programs. Overall, he has practiced and published widely on a range of economic development and policy reform issues - including microfinance, governance, decentralization, agriculture and rural development, the political economy of reforms, and project design, appraisal and monitoring and evaluation.
Education: B.A. and M.A. from Xavier University in the Philippines; Ph.D. in Economic Development and Rural Finance from the East-West Center and University of Hawaii.