Hong Kong businesses, social groups, a major bank and a think tank have jointly set up a platform to devise initiatives to make the city more elderly-friendly through the nurturing of a “silver economy”.
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The Alliance of Silver Economy Development was launched on Tuesday and aims to encourage collaboration between companies and social organisations.
Alliance convenor and lawmaker Chan Hok-fung said local stakeholders had yet to come together to align and implement silver economy strategies, with the new platform aiming to connect all the sectors involved.
“Working with organisations such as Our Hong Kong Foundation, which focuses on research, while the alliance helps unite different stakeholders and initiate concrete and on-the-ground actions, could help push the silver economy,” he said after signing a collaboration memorandum with the foundation.
The alliance features representatives from various sectors, such as the Bank of China (Hong Kong), the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, the Our Hong Kong Foundation think tank and several lawmakers.
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Government data showed the spending of people aged 60 and above reached HK$342 billion (US$43.6 billion) in 2024, accounting for 11 per cent of the city’s gross domestic product, with the figure expected to rise.
Ryan Ip Man-ki, vice-president of Our Hong Kong Foundation’s Public Policy Institute, said the think tank expected more aggressive growth than the government’s prediction that such spending would reach HK$496 billion in 2034.