Speaker’s Story
Benjamin Quinones is an agricultural economist with specialization in agricultural banking and finance. He is currently serving as the founding chairman and the president of CSRSME Asia. For more than 30 years, he has served in various capacities in the Philippines and abroad: (1) Economist of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA< Manila, 1974-77); (2) Chief Economist of the Technical Board for Agricultural Credit, Manila 1977-1983, (3) Secretary General, Asia Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA, Bangkok, Thailand, 1984-1992); (4) Project Manager, ADB Project on Institutional Strengthening of Cooperatives in the Philippines, Manila, (1994-1995); (5) Programme Coordinator, Asian and Pacific Development Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1997-2003. In the course of his work, he designed several poverty reduction schemes including (1) the Linking Banks and Self-Help Groups Program, 1986; (2) the Rapid Appraisal and Mobilization Campaign, 1987; (3) the Bayanihan (Soldiarity) Banking Program, 1993; and (4) the NegoSentro (Center for Business Franchising of Social Enterprises), 2010.

Speaker’s Organization
CSRSME Asia (Coalition of Socially Responsible SMEs in Asia) is a non-profit, non-stock corporation registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission of the Philippines. Its vision is a compassionate economy built up through solidarity and cooperation among social entrepreneurs. It organizes participatory dialogue processes at the country and continental levels to facilitate exchanges of experiences and information among social entrepreneurs.
CSRSME Asia organized the first Asian Forum for Solidarity Economy in Manila in October 2007. From there, the Asian Forum was organized in Tokyo in November 2009 by the Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC). The third Asian Forum will be conducted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in November 2011. In all these forums, CSRSME Asia provides intellectual input and links to social enterprises in Asia.