The twilight zones

In Poland a debate is currently raging about the value of Special Economic Zones, which have been a feature of the country's economic landscape since they were set up in 1996-98. Some argue that they have helped to generate desperately needed employment in depressed regions; others that the tax incentives provided for them are a drain on the treasury. The issue has come into sharper focus recently since the present system is due to expire in 2020 (but still likely to be extended to 2026). What cannot be disputed by either side is that the SEZs have drawn in a great deal of foreign investment from major international companies. But despite all the industrial plant building activity, a boom for developers in the zones has so far failed to materialise.A director of an international company that has just opened a factory in one such zone told me that the main advantage of locating in an SEZ was that it enabled the firm to "bypass the developer", in that they could own their own plant and b