Zone for Employment and Economic Development (Honduras)


Zone for Employment and Economic Development is the name of a new type of administrative division in Honduras that is subject under the national government and provides a high level of autonomy with its own political system, at a judicial, economic and administrative level.
Cities will be created with the intention of attracting investment and generating employment in currently uninhabited parts of the country, or in municipalities that agree to be converted into ZEDE zones. Every zone will de facto be governed by a technical secretary, elected by a committee that will oversee the adoption of best practices. The committee is in its turn appointed by the president of Honduras, in accord with the organic laws that regulate these zones. The inhabitants will be able to interact with each other voluntarily.
The ZEDE is not unique. Other successful free trade zones can be found in China, in South Korea, and in Singapore.

Objectives

ZEDE has the following objectives for economic development:
  1. International logistics centres that permit the processing of goods at a grand scale.
  2. International business courts that resolve disputes between both national and foreign business entities.
  3. Special investment districts that permit the creation of centres for the service sector.
  4. Districts for renewable energy that permit investment in renewable energy.
  5. Special economic zones in which the laws that govern the economy will be different from the rest of the country. National laws might be suspended in favor of solutions based on a free market. Compare Shenzhen, China.
  6. Zones subject to a special judicial system that function under a judicial tradition different from the usual.
  7. Special agro-industrial zones that permit incentives for exporting high-quality agricultural products.
  8. Special tourist zones that permit special conditions for creating centres for tourism in undeveloped parts of the country.

    Reception

The ZEDE initiative has gained considerable attention and support from free market advocates, especially from libertarians and supporters of crypto-currencies, who see this as an opportunity to test their ideas in practice.

Projected Impact

Recently, economists at the Universidad Francisco Marroquín conducted an economic impact analysis examining how ZEDEs might impact the Honduran economy. They found that a ZEDE which resembles the growth rates of China's Special Economic Zones would reach $36,000 GDP per capita by 2050.