The OECD/ERIA project Promoting Active Ageing in Southeast Asia results in two reports. This OECD Report analyses the active ageing policies that can help older people in ASEAN Member countries age healthily and independently and avoid feeling insecure, particularly in terms of income. Chapter 1 discusses the key background demographic, economic and employment characteristics that are relevant for the promotion of active ageing in ASEAN Member States. Chapter 2 analyses the main areas potentially limiting work capacity at older ages, while Chapter 3 emphasises the need to strengthen health and social policies in order to drastically improve the prospects of active and healthy ageing in ASEAN countries. Finally, Chapter 4 builds on the analyses in the previous chapters to identify the policy implications to promote active ageing among ASEAN countries. The second report produced by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) is scheduled to be published later in 2025. It will consist of country case studies based on longitudinal data documenting the disease structure and disability of older people based on various aspects, such as gender, formal-informal economy, and urban-rural, in each country.
Hervé Boulhol led the OECD team and coordinated the OECD part of the project and the publication of the OECD Report. Chapter 1 was written by Hervé Boulhol, Maciej Lis and Andrew Reilly. Chapter 2 was written by Benthe Geerdink and Maciej Lis, while Wouter De Tavernier, Risako Ninomiya and Andrew Reilly wrote Chapter 3. Chapter 4 was a collective effort of the above authors. We are very grateful to Monika Queisser, Head of the Social Policy Division, for having provided in-depth comments on all chapters.
We would like to deeply thank ERIA colleagues – in particular Uswa Alhamid, Narihiro Hirai, Takuma Kato, Mustika Marwah, Yasuyuki Mitsuhashi, Mirrah Nabighah, Asuka Nagatani, Liem Nguyen, Rashesh Shrestha, Nanda Sucitra Putri, Antonio Fredelindo Dela Resma Villanueva and Chang Wan Seok - as well as Yasuhiko Saito from Nihon University and Yuki Ryogo and Tomo Sato, both from the Japanese Delegation at the OECD for their constant support throughout the project in coordinating the answers to the questionnaire sent at the early stage, for organising the OECD June 2024 mission to Jakarta and for providing very helpful comments on draft chapters. The project greatly benefited from the interactions with participants in the April 2024 Paris Workshop “Promoting Active Ageing in Southeast Asia” in Paris organised by ERIA/OECD/IUSSP and with participants in the June 2024 Jakarta Regional Consultative Meeting on “Promoting Active Ageing in Southeast Asia” organised by ERIA. We are very thankful to colleagues we met during the Jakarta mission who provided great insights into the project, including from ASEAN Member States, ILO, the Indonesian Ministry of Finance, SMERU and the World Bank.
The Report benefited from very helpful comments by ELSAC Delegates during the October 2024 meeting and by numerous OECD colleagues, including: Bert Brys, Sabine Laudage Teles and Michael Sicsic (Centre for Tax Policy and Administration), Jonathan Chaloff and Luca Lorenzoni (Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs), Carolin Beck, Pierre De Boisséson, Alexandre Kolev, Hyeshin Park and Pablo Suarez Robles (Development Centre), Pablo Antolin (Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs), Jens Arnold and Charles Dennery (Economics Department), while Andrea Goldstein and Julien Jarrige (Economics Department) and Massimo Geloso Grosso (Global Relations and Cooperation Directorate) helped with organising the mission to Jakarta. Thanks also go to Sandra Celso, Marie-Aurélie Elkurd, Lucy Hulett and Hanna Varkki for their administrative support and help in preparing the manuscript for publication. We also thank Stefano Scarpetta and Mark Pearson, Director and Deputy Director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs at the OECD for their key comments at various stages of the project. The project benefited from financial support by ERIA.