Hill YING Hua: Promote the development of Hong Kong's silver economy and build an "age-friendly" economic system.

On May 14, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of Hong Kong, Edward Yau, summarized his remarks on the motion "Promoting the development of Hong Kong's silver economy and aligning with national strategies" during a meeting of the Legislative Council. He stated that he will continue to listen to the views of the Legislative Council, the business sector, and various stakeholders, including the elderly and their caregivers. At the same time, following the framework of the five existing categories, in collaboration with the direction of the working group on aging population policies, efforts will be made to promote the development of the silver economy and build an "aging-friendly" economy. Yau urged various industries to actively respond to the Hong Kong SAR Government's promotion of the silver economy, work together to seize silver business opportunities, promote the cultivation of high-quality products and service models, and allow the elderly to share in the fruits of development. Yau mentioned that according to the "Silver Economy Market Potential Index for the Asia-Pacific Region," Hong Kong ranks fourth globally and second in the Asia-Pacific region, reflecting the enormous consumption potential of Hong Kong's aging population. The national "15th Five-Year Plan" also proposes the comprehensive implementation of strategies to address the aging population, including vigorously developing the silver economy, enriching "aging-friendly" products and elderly services supply, improving silver economy statistics, and deploying various initiatives from the coordination of pension and industry development, improving pension finance and retirement support policies, and more. The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of Hong Kong will continue to actively promote industry cooperation to enhance collaboration between Hong Kong certification bodies and national certification bodies, in order to facilitate the entry of silver products and services into the Mainland market and expand overseas. Elderly people of different ages have differences in health status, economic capacity, consumption characteristics, and social needs. For example, younger older people (around 60 to 75 years old) may be more inclined to participate in the job market and engage in leisure consumption, while older elderly people (75 years or older) may need more companion care and aging services. In order to effectively promote the development of the silver economy comprehensively, the Hong Kong government will formulate corresponding measures for different groups of elderly people and encourage the business sector to develop diversified products and services to meet the needs of elderly people of all ages and improve their quality of life. To encourage elderly travelers to visit Hong Kong and promote elderly tourism, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of Hong Kong actively encourages various attractions and related institutions in Hong Kong to adapt to the needs and interests of elder visitors, optimize reception measures and tourist experiences. Various attractions also actively cooperate to provide products for elderly tourism, discounts, accessible facilities and services, elderly information, and training for frontline staff on elderly services, among other measures. These efforts will further enhance Hong Kong's image as a friendly, convenient, and attractive tourist destination for the elderly, attracting more elderly visitors and promoting the continued development of the local tourism industry. Yau thanked the legislators for their input on promoting "silver consumption." In the next 20 years, Hong Kong's aging population will increase significantly. By 2046, more than one in every three Hong Kong citizens will be aged 65 or above, and the spending power of Hong Kong's elderly is at a relatively high level regionally and globally. To seize this vast silver business opportunity, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of Hong Kong will continue to actively promote "silver consumption" to promote the development of the local economy. Over the past six months, many exhibition industries and exhibitors have incorporated elements of the silver economy into various exhibitions, and the achievements of "silver consumption" have been significant. In terms of e-commerce, the e-commerce platform "Hong Kong Design Gallery" collaborates with the Hong Kong Council of Social Service to sell elderly products in physical and online stores, helping Hong Kong local companies expand silver business opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and overseas. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council has also launched an e-commerce express plan to strengthen assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises in exploring the Mainland market through e-commerce. For the promotion of "silver quality assurance," on the basis of care food being officially included in the "Bay Area Standard" list, the Federation of Hong Kong Industries has launched a care food product certification plan to help consumers make clearer choices. In addition, the Hong Kong Council of Industries has published the "Hong Kong Q Mark Happy Aging Plan," which covers certifications for care food and other elderly products, as well as services for elderly care and catering locations that can provide care food meals. The first phase of the "Hong Kong Registered-Silver-friendly Series" from the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Bureau has received over 150 registration applications. Elements of the Silver-friendly Registration Service include "support for connecting with family and friends," "providing transportation assistance services," "organizing social activities," etc. Subsequently, the plan has been expanded to financial products, further expanding the silver market. The relevant standards can serve as indicators for businesses to develop products, while certifications can be used as marketing tools to establish brand value, enhance the acceptance and attractiveness of elderly products, and subsequently expand sales networks for these products to overseas and the Mainland. On the other hand, for silver consumers, the relevant standards and certifications can help them identify and select high-quality silver products and services. Therefore, promoting "silver quality assurance" is beneficial for both businesses and silver consumers. Furthermore, the governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao have been working to establish "Bay Area Standards" for various products and services to promote connectivity and integrated development in the three regions. Looking ahead, the Hong Kong government hopes to work with the industry to discover more suitable silver standards and incorporate them into the "Bay Area Standards" to help the industry expand into the Mainland market. The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of Hong Kong will promote the advantages of "silver quality assurance" to help the industry improve the quality of related products and expand product sales networks to Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, benefiting a wide range of silver consumers. The Steering Committee of the Working Group on Promoting the Silver Economy has actively promoted and implemented 30 measures over the past year, most of which have made good progress, and the relevant policy bureaus continue to maintain close contact with stakeholders and the industry to listen to opinions and formulate or optimize measures. Therefore, the work of each decision-making department of the Working Group has not been completed. The Working Group is currently researching new measures under the five categories of promoting "silver consumption," developing "silver industry," promoting "silver quality assurance," promoting "silver financial and security arrangements," and unleashing "silver production power," and will continue to maintain close contact with the industry and stakeholders to further promote the development of the silver economy and introduce and implement more measures to promote the silver economy in the future. On the other hand, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong announced in the 2025 Policy Address the establishment of a working group on strategies for an aging population led by the Deputy Secretary for Administration, with members consisting of all relevant policy bureaus to develop strategies covering elderly, medical, housing, aging science and technology, and simultaneously promote further development of the silver economy. The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of Hong Kong is one of the members of this working group and will continue to implement measures to promote "silver consumption" and promote "silver quality assurance" among other initiatives.