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2021 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

8. The Fraught Future of Free Zones in Gulf Arab States

Author : Robert Mogielnicki

Published in: A Political Economy of Free Zones in Gulf Arab States

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

Free zone development is not a static process but rather one that evolves alongside domestic, regional, and international factors. Following the collapse of oil prices in 2014–2015, regional governments continued to announce new free zone projects and initiatives. The incorporation of free zone characteristics into large-scale national projects and long-term development strategies in Gulf Arab states will ensure that free zones remain salient features of the region’s political economy over the coming decades. The multifaceted roles of existing and nascent free zones in the Gulf depend on global trade and investment flows, which experienced extraordinary shocks in 2020. New economic reforms—namely the easing of foreign ownership regulations, increasing local labor requirements, and imposing new taxes and fees—threaten to diminish many of the traditional business incentives associated with free zones in the Gulf. As Gulf Arab governments push forward with messy and often nonlinear processes of economic reform and diversification efforts, free zones demonstrate the persistence of rentier structures in Gulf economies.

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previous chapter A Commercial Nexus Between East and West

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Title: The Fraught Future of Free Zones in Gulf Arab States
Author: Robert Mogielnicki
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: A Political Economy of Free Zones in Gulf Arab States
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-71273-0

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-71274-7

Copyright Year: 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71274-7_8

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