The “Socio-Economic Consequences of the Ageing of the Population” project is one of the seven population projects of the Phase III ASEAN Population Programme. At the time of its inception, the then five member states of ASEAN — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand — agreed to participate in the study under the lead of Singapore. The Project is designed to provide information to policy-makers and planners on the extent of ageing, its implications, and the potential problems which might emerge as a consequence of ageing in each country. It also serves to review the conditions of the aged in different environmental settings and the existing policies and programmes for the elderly in the context of the overall development of the participating countries.

The decision to focus attention on this subject arose out of the realization that the region as a whole is making rapid strides towards completing the demographic transition into a mature society. Presently, the proportion of old persons is still small in ASEAN countries when compared with the West. Therefore, what is faced is not an immediate crisis of ageing but rather a steady trend which will lead to changes in the way societies work.

The political will which inspired the ASEAN Population Programme originated from the ASEAN Summit Meeting in 1976. The Declaration of ASEAN Concord called for the “intensification and expansion of existing co-operation in meeting the problems of population growth in the ASEAN region”. Since then a total of nineteen projects under the umbrella of the ASEAN Population Programme have been implemented with the ultimate objective of improving the quality of life in the ASEAN region. The seven projects under the Phase III ASEAN Population Programme were funded by the Government of Australia.

The Project “Socio-Economic Consequences of the Ageing of the Population” was initiated in 1984. It has undertaken a series of activities under its aegis.