eBook

Special Economic Zones in Asian Market Economies

Harding, Andrew, Carter, Connie

2011,2010

Overview

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have proliferated rapidly during the past decade and are set to multiply in the next – embracing not only Asia and Europe but also Africa and the Americas. This book is the first to examine the Asian experience of SEZs in China, India, Malaysia and the Philippines. SEZs are usually clearly defined geographic areas in which national, provincial or local governments use policy tools (such as tax holidays; improved infrastructure; less onerous or differentiated regulations and incentives other than those generally available in the rest of the country) to attract and promote private - usually foreign - investment from enterprises which commit to create employment and to export their products or services, and generating foreign currency for the host country. SEZs have been especially successful in bringing about economic development in Asia, especially in China. This book examines the origins, nature and status of special economic zones in Asia, together with the current trends connected with them, and the challenges they currently face. Although the World Trade Organisation cast doubts in 1995 on the future of special economic zones as a viable policy tool in the development agenda, special economic zones continue to be used, and favoured, as a way of encouraging foreign investment and economic development, with for example India, trying to emulate China, reincorporating special economic zones into its development policy. This book provides regional case studies of SEZs in Asian market economies to analyse the extent to which these zones serve the changing needs of Asian development. Preface and Acknowledgements Contributors Abbreviations and Acronyms 1. SEZs: Policy incubators or catalysts for development? - Connie Carter and Andrew Harding 2. SEZs: A policy tool in search of a new agenda? - Peter Muchlinski 3. SEZs and China’s attempt to govern the labour market by law - Feng Xu 4. A tale of two Chinese SEZs: From exogenous to sustainable endogenous growth? - Connie Carter 5. SEZs and improved environmental management in China - Charles Krusekopf 6. SEZs and free ports in the Philippines: Challenges and opportunities in the Bases’ Conversion Program - Arnel Casanova 7. Iskandar and SEZs in Malaysia’s Dualistic Political Economy - Tey Tsun Hang 8. SEZs in India: an economic policy or a political intervention? - Shankar Gopalakrishnan 9. The Indian SEZ Act 2005 and its implications for modelling the law and governance of SEZs - Andrew Harding Resources Connie Carter is Professor of Law at Royal Roads University and Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria, both in Victoria, BC, Canada; and also a Barrister of Lincolns Inn, London. Her recent publications include Law and Economic Development in Singapore and Fighting Fakes in China: Legal Protection of Trademarks & Brands in the PRC . Andrew Harding is currently a member of the Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, BC, Canada, where he holds the Chair in Asia-Pacific Legal Relations and is Director of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives (CAPI). He is co-editor of New Courts in Asia, and Constitutional Courts: a Comparative Study.

• Publisher: Routledge,Taylor and Francis,Taylor & Francis Group
• Subject: 21st century / Asia / Asia -- Economic policy -- 21st century / Asian Business / Asian Economics / Development Economics / Economic development / Economic integration / Economic policy / Economic zoning / Economic zoning -- Asia / Enterprise zones / Enterprise zones - Asia / International trade / World Trade Organization
• ISBN: 0415591805, 9780415591805, 0415731518, 9780415731515, 0203841867, 9780203841860