At present, 12.1 per cent or 840,000 of Hong Kong's population are considered elderly people. In 2033, this figure is expected to rise to 26.8 per cent, or 2.24 million people. To address concerns related to an ageing population, the Hong Kong government set up a task force in 2001 on policy to meet the needs of the growing number of aged, to foster the concept of active and healthy ageing, to promote social integration of new arrivals, and to ensure the long-term sustainability of economic growth.

One of the world's most comprehensive studies on global attitudes to ageing and retirement, carried out last year by HSBC, found Hongkongers have a different attitude to retirement from people elsewhere in the world.

Choy Chung-foo, chief executive of HSBC Insurance (Asia-Pacific) Holdings, said they did not want to work when they retired, and did not see work as part of a happy retirement.

'For many people, reaching retirement will mean they no longer have a stable income. They will need to address issues such as can I maintain my standard of living and can I afford healthcare?' he said.

Christine Loh, founder and chief executive of the Civic Exchange think-tank, believes that policies need to be redesigned to meet the needs of people living long lives that are healthy and productive.

'Ageing is an inevitable human process. What will become a problem is if society cannot adapt its mindset, structures and organisations to demographic realities. In 2006, we will see related issues raised to higher levels,' she said.

Hong Kong needed to pay more attention to promoting public health and lifestyle changes, including healthier diets, exercise and improving environmental and occupational conditions, she said.

Furthermore, if people were to work longer, employers had to be willing to retain and hire older workers.

'Starting to fight age discrimination is therefore a must,' Ms Loh said.

Apart from further relaxing policies on migration from the mainland, she said, Hong Kong would have to consider attracting more people from elsewhere if it wanted to have an international mix of people.

'Hong Kong will need to offer the best employment and living environments for high- and lower-end services - ranging from merchant bankers, academics and restaurateurs to foreign students and foreign domestic helpers,' she said.

Hong Kong's often under-appreciated workforce of foreign domestic helpers has been growing over the past three decades and now numbers more than 220,000.

According to the Asian Migrant Centre, each helper is estimated to spend about $800 a month in the local economy, which generates more than $2.3 billion in direct consumption annually.

Nearly 40 per cent of foreign domestic helpers take care of children, saving their employers more than $2 billion a year in private preschool fees.

The centre also estimates that 10 per cent of Hong Kong's elderly are looked after by foreign domestic helpers, saving families more than $2.5 billion a year in nursing home costs.

Mateya Kelly, a US academic who recently carried out a study of foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, said the territory was one of the most attractive destinations for these workers, despite occasional news reports of maltreatment.

'Hong Kong offers relatively high wages and has well-established migration networks and the best employment structure among receiving countries,' she said.

The UN Commission on International Migrant Workers noted during a recent visit that Hong Kong accords helpers the same rights as local workers, which most receiving countries do not, and provides them with specific protection.

The commission may well recommend the Hong Kong model to other countries.

Ms Kelly said this year the government would probably strengthen prevention against exploitation, such as by taking employers to court for paying less than the minimum wage, which her surveys found was a serious matter.

'There seems to be positive energy among responsible officers to act rather than make excuses for non-action,' she said.

But foreign domestic helpers are likely to continue to have two major complaints. First, their earnings are tempting sources of profit for their home countries to take a slice of. There are many stories of the large sums helpers must pay back home.

'Realistically, Hong Kong cannot stop this by itself although migrant groups are lobbying hard,' Ms Kelly said.

Second, helpers argue they are the only group of foreigners who, no matter how long they stay, cannot become permanent residents. This relates to immigration policy and the time is coming when Hong Kong must consider whether to open its doors more widely to people other than mainlanders.