A government working group established last year led by Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk will publish initiatives and policies this afternoon at 4.30pm, he added.
The policies will cover five areas: boosting “silver consumption”; developing the “silver industry”; promoting “quality assurance of silver products”; enhancing “silver financial and security arrangements”; and unleashing “silver productivity”.
“Hong Kong is one of the cities with the longest average life expectancy,” Lee said ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting.
“The elderly population is constantly increasing in the city, and it is expected that by 2043, over one third of the city’s population will be people aged 65 or above.
“In other words, by then, more than one third of the consumer market in Hong Kong will be the silver-haired market,” he said, stressing an urgent need to tap into the market.
The establishment of the Working Group on Promoting Silver Economy was announced by Lee in his Policy Address in October.
Lee said the working group will coordinate with the public and private forces from various sectors to respond to and serve the needs of the senior residents, enhancing their quality of life, while driving the city’s economic development.
