FREE ECONOMIC ZONES IN THE MODERN SYSTEM OF FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS

Abstract

Today, FEZs exist in states that are different in level and nature of economic development. They are in industrialized countries (IC), in new industrial countries (NIC), in developing countries (DC) and in countries transitioning to a market economy. Their distribution on the planet is very uneven. The process of creating free economic zones is characterized by the greatest dynamism in developing countries. So, if in 1960 there were two of them in this group of countries, in 1975 – 79, 1981 – 96, 1985 – 264. Then by the mid-90s, there were already more than 900 zones. About 10 % of the global commodity circulation passes through the FEZ, and the growth rates of export and import volumes in them are very high. According to experts of the UN Center for Transnational Corporations (TNCs), by the mid-2000s the number of people employed in the FEZ exceeded 3 million people.The task of today is to provide the necessary theoretical and methodological basis for the phenomenon of free economic zones in world economic relations, to generalize the world experience of their creation and functioning in countries with different levels of economic development, and on the basis of a critical analysis of world and domestic practice to ensure the assimilation and successful application of the knowledge gained in practice.