Special Economic Zones in the OIC Region:
Learning from Experience
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6 Synthesis and Conclusions
6.1 Introduction
Based on the information and data available to the authors, this report has shown that at present
there are approximately 32 OIC Member Countries which have established SEZ programmes,
with a number who have aspirations to develop future programmes. Whilst data is not available
for all zones, there has been a clear increase in the number of zones established since the start
of the millennium with 63% of zones123 established since 2000 within OIC Member Countries.
The study demonstrates that there have been notable differences in the success and impact of
SEZ development across OIC Member Countries and whilst there are examples of success and
failure of SEZ development within each regional groups (Asia, Arab and African) it is
demonstrated that there have been notable challenges in developing SEZ programmes within
the African countries in particular.
A number of case study and site visit examples have been used within this study to identify the
key challenges faced by OIC Member Countries when developing and implementing SEZ
programmes, as well as the key success factors which underpin the most successful examples of
those cases examined.
This section now presents specific conclusions and recommendations based on the findings of
the analysis presented above and the extensive literature review of SEZ experiences and
performance. These recommendations have been formulated based on the analysis of OIC SEZ
performance, global SEZ experiences and the case study experiences but are derived for the OIC
as a whole.
Whilst it is acknowledged that there are no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solutions to SEZ development, there
are a number of key success factors which have been identified which government, operators
and investors could learn from in the design, implementation and operation of SEZ programmes
within OIC Member Countries. These challenges and success factors are now examined in
further detail below and focus on key Organisational, Economic and Physical/Spatial factors.
6.2 Key Organisational Factors
6.2.1 Vision and Strategy
The first step in considering SEZ development is to define whether an SEZ is the appropriate
policy tool to address the underlying economic requirements driving consideration of the SEZ
123 Based on data available for 140 zones across OIC Member States.