At a discussion on the opportunities arising from demographic change at the World Marketing Conference held by the Marketing Association of Thailand, Jason Sadler, chief executive of HSBC Insurance (Singapore), said the change in demographics was opening up a new market in the city state.

He said Singapore was going through a retirement revolution, with the ageing population becoming a major issue and business opportunity, as the average age rose from 24 in 1980 to 36 in 2004.

The percentage of the population older than 34 rose from 30 per cent in 1980 to 49 per cent in 2004 and the over-64 crowd had increased from 4.9 per cent to 7.9 per cent.

Sadler said that by 2030 it was expected that 19 per cent of the population would be older than 64 with the over-50s forming a new market no company could ignore.

A study by the Singapore Management University in 2005 showed that an average Singaporean at 55 only has S$60,000 (Bt1.5 billion) in savings and another S$60,000 liquid. Clearly, S$120,000 is insufficient to keep a retiree going for 25 years, he said.

"Research showed that retirement concerns include employability, family, rest and relaxation, health and financial stability," said Sadler.

He said the HSBC Group had identified retirement planning as a key area by setting up a "global retirement business" where "initiatives are devised and ideas considered".

The competition in the financial markets of Singapore is fierce and HSBC aims to lead the market by pursuing a different strategy, he said.

The company wants to meet customer needs with its financial planning services, especially through its insurance and investment products.

HSBC understands people's desired retirement lifestyles and the retirement planning needs to help them maintain that lifestyle, Sadler said.

Pana Janviroj, president of Nation Multimedia Group, said many of the region's governments wanted to enlarge their market by forming communities. Each country in the region is dismantling taxes and other barriers, but even Thailand with a population of 60 million still struggles to secure economic growth, he said.

Free trade agreements with China, India and Japan are a means to expand the market to build economies of scale and reduce costs, he said.

"Demographics is one of the key driving forces of the world economy. By 2009, the Thai working population will peak, meaning the economy will reap the biggest benefit in three years. After that an ageing population will become a burden," said Pana.

He said that unlike favourable ageing in Singapore, the greying of Thailand would become an economic burden.

It is doubtful that older Thais can take advantage of the world economy because Thais find it more difficult to adapt to new technology, he said.

Thais have become wealthier, allowing young people to spend more time on education which has formed the basis of a skilled workforce.

Young Thais today are torn between traditional values and peer pressure for acceptance, he said, with Thais increasingly copying the image and behaviour of youths in Korea and Japan.

Globalisation and demographic shifts will have an impact on multinational firms, which blend different working cultures in one place.

Kelvin Thompson, chief strategy and development officer at Heidrick & Struggles (H&S), said success depended on fine leadership which could understand a company's target market.

"The market today is global but you have to understand both global and national markets. To be successful in Thailand, companies have to understand Thai culture, history and working practices," said Thompson.

He said that the opportunities for Thai executives were enormous.

Thompson said expatriates had an uneven history with 40 per cent succeeding, 20 per cent going home early and 40 per cent operating at a low level, suggestion the West did not always understand the East.

"It is key for expatriates to understand the Thai environment and if you don't, you will never realise the benefit of being in Thailand and market effectively," said Thompson.

He said to be a successful in Thailand businesses must create a working environment where there was debate rather than a dictatorship.

While senior executives have to keep pace with changing markets, cope with risk and recruit and retain talent, managers also have to spend time managing teams, understanding market needs, collaborating with overseas colleagues and balancing organisation demands.

According to H&S, the most critical skills for a business are staff development, customer orientation, team leadership and visionary leadership.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation