Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are delineated geographic areas earmarked for industrial development and aimed at attracting foreign multinational enterprises to establish factories and businesses in the zone through foreign direct investment (FDI). SEZs tend to offer preferential regimes and separate regulatory frameworks that differ from the rest of a country (UNCTAD, 2019), but the toolbox is also relevant for zones that do not establish such a separation. The toolbox also applies to zones that have assumed other forms and terminologies, such as economic development zones (EDZs), industrial parks, industrial zones, export processing zones, free trade zones and free zones. 

Since post-war Ireland experimented with the world’s first free trade zone in the city of Shannon, various types of SEZs have proliferated across the world with Asia’s first Export Processing Zone (EPZ) being set up in Kandla, India in 1965. China’s experiment with SEZs post-1978 was particularly remarkable, as it led to massive urbanisation, large-scale migration, and ultimately considerable industrial transformation and economic growth. Following suit, many Asian and African economies have experimented with the notion of SEZs as catalysts of economic transformation, and employment and export generation. Today, there are more than 5,000 SEZs worldwide.