Are Special Economic Zones a Panacea for Developing Countries? Lessons for Developing Countries
Jeong, Hyung-Gon | July 2016
Abstract
A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area of a country regulated specifically to attract foreign investment and spur economic development. It is separate from the rest of the country in the sense that the business activities it hosts are free from requirements such as commodity taxes, foreign currency exchanges and customs limitations. In addition, SEZs offer business incentives such as rent discounts and preferential tax structures. Both developing and advanced countries have established and utilized such zones to attract outsourced activities in industries such as manufacturing, distribution, logistics and trade. Over three thousand special economic zones now exist worldwide, and more countries have begun implementing or shown interest in using SEZs for their industrial development. The results so far have been quite mixed; SEZs have succeeded in countries such as China, Singapore and South Korea, while others are still struggling. Many scholars maintain the view that SEZs are not a panacea, and must be implemented properly and carefully aligned with a country’s specific circumstances.
Citation
Jeong, Hyung-Gon. 2016. Are Special Economic Zones a Panacea for Developing Countries? Lessons for Developing Countries. © Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/10546.Keywords
Free Trade
Trade Facilitation
Trade
Economic integration
Regional Economic Integration
Intraregional Trade
Macroeconomic
Macroeconomic Analysis
Macroeconomic Framework
Macroeconomic Models
Macroeconomic Performance
Macroeconomic Planning
Macroeconomic Policies
Macroeconomic Reform
Macroeconomic Stabilization
Economic planning
Economic structure
Growth policy
Trade relations
Trade policy
Economic development
Economies in transition
International economy
Border integration
Economic integration
Gross domestic product
Trade Regulations
Exchange Rate
Economic zones
Regional economics
Economic forecasting
Economic development projects
Success in business
Business
Free trade
Business
Economics
Communication in economic development
Restraint of trade
International economic integration
Trade blocs
East-West
Exchange rates
Economic Zones
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Citable URI
http://hdl.handle.net/11540/10546Metadata
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