Open SEZ: Special Economic Zones & Cities - 新乡市城

 By George ELIOT There are three overriding reasons why a special economic zone (SEZ) may need to limit access by creating checkpoints at the entrance and exit: A) To prevent goods from entering the rest of the country duty-free or under a lighter customs regime (in cases where the SEZ benefits from customs tariff concessions, e.g. bonded zones, duty free zones, etc.). B) To prevent goods produced in the zone from being exported if companies operating in the SEZ benefit from preferential tax treatment. For example, if the SEZ companies have a tax rate reduction or waiver; or if there is a preferential taxation / depreciation statute on investments and machinery within the SEZ, then the competitive landscape puts the SEZ companies at an advantage and they may unfairly compete against companies in the rest of the country. So it would be only fair to limit exports from the zone to the rest of the country. For example Bangladesh export processing zones (EPZ) are allowed to sell no more...

By George ELIOT In anticipation of a new UK Government policy for the development of the Oxford-Cambridge Corridor (to be announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, on January 29, 2025), there is one glaring opportunity: to create a new University City between Oxford and Cambridge as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Or even better a "Special Educational Economic Zone" (SEEZ). GLOBAL DEMAND vs. UK SUPPLY There is huge demand for British university education among overseas students (and their parents). For example, there are currently 200,000 Chinese university students enrolled at British universities. Yet, this type of numbers are just the top (if not the tip) of the iceberg of university demand, as successive British Governments from both sides of the political spectrum have been trying to ration the provision of education to overseas students by implementing restrictive student visa policies. OVERSEAS STUDENT VISAS For a start, it is not clear why overseas s...

 By George ELIOT Border areas along the national frontier of two countries offer both economic advantages and disadvantages for businesses to relocate / operate out of there: Advantages: 1) Arbitrage opportunities in sourcing, procurement, recruiting, tax benefits, legislative framework. 2) Possibly lower real estate prices, resulting from lower population. 3) Access to infrastructure across the border (if insufficiently developed in the home country). 4) Opportunities to start from a clean slate (e.g. greenfield sites). 5) Competitive pressure on businesses to outperform the competition across the border. 6) Access to international development funding for "twinning" cross-border partnership projects. Disadvantages: 1) Smaller / more sparse population. 2) Distance from capital city or main economic hubs. 3) Neglect by national authorities, including lack of infrastructure investment. 4) Security risks (not necessarily military infiltration/invasion, but more asymmetric risks ...

By George ELIOT Mexico can breathe a sigh of relief: US President Donald Trump has not laid out any neocolonial ambitions for any parts of Mexico, after all his bluster about taking over Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal. Many areas of Mexico are growing thanks in part to their connection to the USA: The economy of the Yucatan Peninsula is developing based on its tropical Caribbean tourism and proximity to Florida and Texas, across the Gulf. While many parts of northern Mexico that border the four US states by land (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California) have booming maquiladora industries and complex supply chain operations closely integrated with those of the US. However, the biggest unpolished pearl that Mexico has is its Baja California Peninsula. The Mexican states of Baja California (population: 3.8 million) and Baja California Sur (population: 0.8 million) cover the north and south of the peninsula, respectively. The three biggest cities of Baja California state all bor...