In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

Dr. V. Bruce J. Tolentino, The Asia Foundation’s chief economist and director for Economic Reform and Development, will have a new post at the Foundation come July 2011: country representative in the Foundation’s Afghanistan office. As Tolentino prepares to head to Kabul this summer, he spoke with In Asia about the crucial role economic development will play in Afghanistan’s...

This week, In Asia caught up with The Asia Foundation’s chief economist Dr. V. Bruce J. Tolentino as he prepares for his new post as country representative in Afghanistan July 2011. Of his time working in some of the world’s most conflict-affected areas, he says his experience has “enabled me to be much more appreciative of those elements that...

The latest Asian Development Bank Report predicts an “Asian Century,” and that billions in the region could be affluent by 2050. In Asia caught up with The Asia Foundation’s chief economist Bruce Tolentino for his reaction to the report. Tolentino just completed a new volume on economic reform and development called, “Innovations in Strengthening Local Economic Governance in Asia,”...

Over the last two decades, Asia has been the fastest growing region in the world, explains Bruce Tolentino, Asia Foundation’s Director of Economic Reform and Development Programs. Yet even in these fast-growing countries, poverty and inequality has persisted. In a new video, Tolentino explains some of the key impediments to broad-based economic growth and how the Foundation’s programs address...

...security for all. V. Bruce J. Tolentino is The Asia Foundation’s director for Economic Reform and Development Programs. He can be reached at btolentino@asiafound.org. On Thursday, September 30, Tolentino will moderate the West Coast release of the long-anticipated IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) Task Force Report on Food Security and Sustainability in Asia. Co-hosted by The Asia Foundation, Give2Asia, and...

“Despite tremendous economic growth achieved over the past two decades,” says Asia Foundation Director of Economic Reform and Development Programs Bruce Tolentino, “hunger continues to beset much of Asia. Estimates show that there are 850 million hungry people globally.” This is a stubborn challenge for Asian governance, and future predicted population growth, dwindling land and water resources for agriculture,...

One year ago in this blog, Asia Foundation chief economist Bruce Tolentino expressed “cautious optimism” about the prospects for global recovery and Asian growth in 2010. His positive prediction for Asia was more than fulfilled, in spite of a dispiriting lag in U.S. recovery and severe economic crises in the Eurozone. Vietnam is expected to lead Southeast Asia in...

...that the Philippines’ food supply challenges can only be satisfactorily and sustainably met through determined, long-term effort to rebuild domestic agricultural productivity, coupled with market-based trade policies. Bruce Tolentino is The Asia Foundation’s Director for Economic Reform and Development Programs; Thupten Norbu is an Economic Reform and Development Program Assistant for the Foundation. Bruce Tolentino can be reached at btolentino@asiafound.org....

...Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and other ministries, as well as academic advisors and NGO leaders. There was also a separate in-house workshop for working level KOICA staff. Dr. Bruce Tolentino, the Foundation’s Director for Economic Development and Reform programs, led the team. He was joined by Anthea Mulakala, the Foundation’s Country Representative in Malaysia, and Erman...

Bruce Tolentino, The Asia Foundation’s Director for Economic Reform and Development Programs, continues to provide insight on the U.S. financial crisis’ impact in Asia. This week, he noted that a major recession in the United States would “hit export-heavy tech industries in Taiwan, South Korea and China hard” in addition to countries with large garment and textile sectors that...