Singaporean entrepreneur Janice Chia believes helping people age in fulfilling ways, especially as the world’s aged population grows rapidly, requires driving innovation in technology and service models. She believes that solving the challenges of ageing with better products and services will not only enable healthy, independent, dignified ageing, but can offer strong economic opportunities for Asia as well.

Chia is Founder and Managing Director of Ageing Asia, a business network launched in 2009, that she said can also be considered “a longevity ecosystem. Our members come from various industries and we focus on helping them to grow in the silver economy.” It has grown to include 3,000-plus members, but Chia says it has a wider network of about 60,000 people worldwide. Most are in the Asia Pacific region, which includes Australia and New Zealand, but there are members in Europe as well. The majority of members, she said, are service providers for older adults, but there is a strong contingent of businesses that serve the ageing market.

Drawing on Chia’s long experience as a conference organizer, Ageing Asia hosts a variety of conferences, networking events, wellness forums, professional study trips to countries around the world, and more. Its single largest event is the annual World Ageing Festival in Singapore, which routinely hosts 8,000-plus attendees.

Chia will participate in the upcoming Global Ageing Network Summit: Innovation In Aged Care, on 1 November 2025, presenting on “A Vision for Healthy Longevity in Asia.”

Global Ageing Network spoke to Chia to learn more about her organization and her thoughts on workforce issues and the future of services for older people in Asia.

Global Ageing Network: Why did you create Ageing Asia?

Janice Chia: Most of the inspiration came from being close to my grandma as I grew up, and observing the way she was ageing. [She] belongs to the generation where older people believed that, especially in Asia, it’s all about the concept of filial piety. When I grow old, when I get weaker, someone will look after me and someone will do things for me. It was a culture of dependence [where you] expect that your children will look after you, someone else will do things for you as you age. But in my parents’ generation, the Baby Boomers’ attitude toward ageing is very different. They want to have control over their own lives. They may not want to live with their children, and they don’t want someone to do everything for them.

This shift led me to create Ageing Asia, to look at the new ways older people will age, and the fact that people are ageing for much longer. If we are going to head toward that “100-year life,” an age of dependency is not going to be the future. We’ve always focused on identifying global models from around the world and sharing it with our network. And by studying these models, what we want is for people around our region to think differently about how they’re going to build for seniors, how they’re going to offer services for seniors. What [are] the best practices around the world? What can I do differently?

Global Ageing Network: How does the aged care workforce crisis in Asia compare to other regions?

Janice Chia: Different countries in Asia are facing different challenges, and the crisis is only going to get worse because of the intensity of a care worker’s job. It requires a lot of time, dedication, focus, and it’s not an easy role. And I think professionalization of the care sector is a very big challenge in Asia. The future lies in whether we can attract enough younger people in each country to be able to want to work in the care sector. For example, in Singapore, our care sector [is] highly dependent on care workers coming in from other countries, such as Myanmar, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

In Japan and China, they have a large number of younger people in their own country willing to work in the care sector, and there are already clear pathways. In Singapore and the rest of Asia, we are still developing these pathways. How can we help different types of care workers [get]  access to residency status if they are able to contribute or develop careers?

Global Ageing Network: Ageing Asia says that the Asia Pacific ageing market is over $4 trillion in size. Where are investments being made?

Janice Chia: A lot of the money in this area is still going to building facilities. But in the next 10 years, people don’t want to necessarily choose living in a facility as their option. Especially in urban parts of Asia, ageing in place is going to be the solution. There’s huge potential for home care, for products that make your home smarter and friendlier. Ageing Asia sees our role as being able to connect key businesses and investors together to jointly evaluate new opportunities.

Global Ageing Network: You will participate in the Global Ageing Summit on 1 November 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. Can you describe your presentation?

Janice Chia: We will share the latest ageing models, initiatives, policies, and services that have emerged in Asian markets, and the mindset shifts of Asian consumers. What are their demands, their expectations, about their ageing journey, and what are some of the models outside of brick and mortar that have emerged? We hope to inspire [attendees] about the Asia Pacific ageing market, and get them excited about what’s happening and what’s new, and establish more ties between Asia and [other regions].