Special Economic Zones

A Special Economic Zone (SEZ), or its subcatagory Free Economic Zone (FEZ), is a designated areas within a country where companies have preferential terms within the framework of national and EU state aid rules. These preferential terms include for example tax exemptions of e.g. corporate or personal income taxes. The general aims of a SEZ include increased trade balance, employment, increased investment, job creation and effective administration.

This policy brief examines the following Special Economic Zones in Europe:

  1. The Latvian Special Economic Zones
  2. The Lithuanian Free Economic Zones
  3. The Polish Special Economic Zones
  4. Other cases of SEZ impact assessments in other countries

A comparison is made concerning their objectives, territorial coverage, main incentives, the role of the state and their governance structure.

The analysis is focused on factors that serve as useful input to the ongoing revision of the Hungarian FEZs. However, the observed impacts in the case study SEZs offer several insights that are useful for any country to consider when revising its FEZs. 

Documents

Policy Brief SEZ corr 03-12.pdf

  • Acrobat Document | 795KB

Appendix SEZ.pdf

  • Acrobat Document | 659KB