KUALA LUMPUR: Healthy ageing cannot become a commodity available only to those who can afford it, as true inclusion requires concrete, practical application, says Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah.
The Sultan of Perak said viewing an ageing population solely through the narrow lens of expenditure was to overlook the immense social and human capital that healthier ageing preserves.
He said Malaysia's own Care Strategic Framework cited analysis suggesting that every ringgit invested in care could generate seven ringgit in wider economic returns through gains in growth, employment and income.
"A longer-lived population is a vast repository of accumulated wisdom, institutional memory, and mentorship.
"We must never treat age and dependency as synonymous. They are not.
"Global projections indicate that within the next ten years, individuals over sixty will account for nearly one-third of global consumer expenditure. Longevity is already reshaping global markets," His Royal Highness said.
He said this during his royal address at the Silver Economy Forum 2026: A Foundation for Shared Prosperity, held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on Wednesday (Nov 11).
At the forum, Sultan Nazrin also received the Baroness Sally Greengross Award for Healthy Longevity Innovation from Global Coalition on Aging chief executive officer Michael Hodin.
Sultan Nazrin also said the silver economy must be understood not merely as a marketing frontier for older consumers, but as a structural re-alignment of the economy towards inclusivity, innovation, and social stability.
"That said, economic consumption must never be the metric that validates human life.
"If a longer, healthier life is one of the crowning achievements of modern civilisation, then the fruits of that achievement must not depend upon the balance of one's bank account.
"A society is ultimately judged by whether the opportunities it creates remain within the reach of its most vulnerable citizens," His Royal Highness said.
Sultan Nazrin said healthy ageing required the right infrastructure, not simply the right services.
He said housing, healthcare, financial security and technology could no longer be treated as separate areas of policy, as they were interconnected corridors in the same lived environment.
"The foundations of healthy ageing do not begin at sixty, they are laid in the choices made decades prior.
"The objective of public policy must not be restricted to creating institutional settings defined purely by medical care.
"Our goal must be to cultivate integrated communities where our elders can remain active and independent, while allowing support to increase gradually as their needs change," he said.
He said Asean must renew its commitment to building a society where healthy, active and productive ageing is a reality for all, as the region faces a rapidly ageing population.
He said the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Ageing, adopted by Asean leaders almost 11 years ago, provided a benchmark against which the region's progress could be measured.
"Returning to this venue allows us to measure our progress against the benchmark established over a decade ago.
"Under the same roof, we reaffirm a deeply held ambition – the creation of a society where healthy, active, and productive ageing is not an isolated luxury, but a communal reality," His Royal Highness said.
