Special Economic Zone: Performance, Lessons Learned, and Implication for Zone Development

This paper examines 30 years of experience in zones, reviewing development patterns and economic impacts of zones worldwide. The experience shows that while zones have been effective in addressing economic growth and development objectives, they have not been uniformly successful; successes in East Asia and Latin America have been difficult to replicate, particularly in Africa, and many zones have failed. Moreover, since the onset of zone development in developing countries, concerns have been raised about the impact of zones on employment(in terms of gender, wage levels and benefits, workerrights and work conditions), the environment, and related social factors.