Special Economic Zones in ASEAN: The Cases of Lao PDR, Malaysia, and Myanmar

Special Economic Zones in ASEAN: The Cases of Lao PDR, Malaysia, and Myanmar

Sufian Jusoh, Muhammad Faliq Abd Razak
Copyright: © 2022 |Pages: 17
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-7619-9.ch006
OnDemand:
(Individual Chapters)
Available
$37.50
Current Special Offers
No Current Special Offers
TOTAL SAVINGS: $37.50

Abstract

Most of the ASEAN Member States have been implementing special economic zones (SEZ) to attract investments, create jobs, and to encourage exports. SEZ may include export processing zones, free trade zones, technology parks, and the digital free trade zone. Newer ASEAN Member States are also launching their own SEZ like the Thilawa SEZ in Myanmar and the Savan Seno Park in Lao PDR. However, each member state has its own style of SEZ development and different types of SEZ for different purposes. The chapter studies the similarities and differences of the SEZ in three ASEAN Member States, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Malaysia. In Laos, Savan-Seno in Savannakhet was established in 2002, with access to Thailand and Vietnam. In Malaysia, the Penang model works on industrial cluster development, which is also adopted in the Johor and Klang Valley zones. In Myanmar, Thilawa SEZ began operation in 2015, mainly through collaborations with Japanese investors. Hence, it is important to understand these differences in order to find the recommended approaches for ASEAN.
Chapter Preview
Top

Defining Sezs

UNCTAD in the World Investment Report 2019 states that 147 countries have established nearly 5,400 SEZ’s within their borders and 500 are in the pipeline (UNCTAD, 2019). SEZ may be defined as geographically delimited areas, created with the intention of offering well-developed industrial spaces, with special legal regimes, rules, institutional environment, and incentives (UNCTAD, 2019). According to the ADB, SEZs are government-designated industrial areas with specific geographical boundaries and are developed by public and / or private entities, offering enabling environments in a limited place with a single administrative regime and infrastructures, such as roads, power, and other utility services. The type, size, and number of firms that can operate in them are determined by the zone management authorities (ADB, 2018). The close link between FDI flow and the SEZs can be best understood in the Philippines, where around 74% of FDIs between 2010 and 2017 can be linked with the SEZs, with other ASEAN Member States are having similar numbers (Figiaconi & Lodetti, 2020).

Complete Chapter List

Search this Book:
Reset