Self Storage Association Asia (SSAA), a trade association dedicated to assisting self-storage operators and industry suppliers working in emerging markets along the Pacific Rim, has appointed Helen Ng as its new chair. Ng is CEO of General Storage Company Pte. Ltd., which includes Lock+Store in Singapore and Malaysia, Store Friendly in Singapore, and The Store House in Hong Kong. With several years of experience in the property-development industry, she has steered General Storage's expansion into Hong Kong and Malaysia, according to a press release. In her new role, she’ll continue to help drive the growth and expansion of the storage industry in Asia and strengthen the SSAA’s accreditation program.

Ng assumes the two-year post from Jonathan Perrins, president of Steel Storage Holdings, an international self-storage construction and development company.

"I am honored to accept this responsibility to provide a platform for industry players to share best practices and harness the burgeoning potential of self-storage in Asia,” Ng said. “The e-commerce boom will help drive industry growth, as will rising affluence in Asia. Although the possibility of recession looms, we foresee growing demand from small, medium enterprises, especially e-commerce businesses, that need flexible self-storage solutions for their business operations."

With rising affluence and rapid urbanization in Asia, especially in developed markets like Hong Kong and Singapore, living and retail space now commands a premium, the release stated. The demand for storage space has also increased. According to 2015 statistics from global market-research firm Ipsos Business Consulting, the self-storage penetration rates in Hong Kong and Singapore are 25 percent and 20 percent respectively, double what they were a decade ago. Malaysia is also rapidly becoming a key market. With a penetration rate of less than 10 percent, there’s room for the industry to grow as well as for established self-storage companies to expand their footprint.

"Another rising trend is mergers and acquisitions, which will increase as self-storage players merge to increase cost efficiencies through economies of scale," Ng said.

This and other topics such as regional expansion will be addressed at the Self Storage Expo Asia, May 11-13, at Hotel Fort Canning in Singapore.

Launched in 2014, SSAA supports members' interests to help grow the self-storage industry in Asia.