Tracking Special Economic Zones in the Western Balkans : Objectives, Features and Key Challenges

This report is, to the authors’ knowledge, the first attempt to systematically collect in one place the different experiences of these six economies, the specific details of the special economic zones in each of them and how they are being used, in an attempt to answer two basic questions: i) what are the incentives offered in the special economic zones across the Western Balkans?; ii) And what impact have these zones had on FDI levels in the region, and more broadly on the economies under scrutiny? The report provides a base for future research on the subject that will need to analyse whether SEZs do work as effective and optimal tools for attracting investment into the Western Balkans and contribute to sustainable growth. It also considers the implications of the WB economies’ approaching membership of the European Union and the need to eventually harmonise their competition policies, including SEZ strategies, with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.