This report looks at the role of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in facilitating both regional integration and local development in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS). The ADB defines an SEZ as a specific geographic region with economic laws that are more liberal than a country’s typical economic laws (ADB Trade Facilitation Report 2009, 132). Drawing from primary research undertaken in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, this report unpacks the constraints on the SEZ Model as a driver of those dual objectives in the region.
