According to the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2026, incentives are considered the most favorable measures for investors, accounting for 50% globally. This reflects the broader shift that began after the COVID-19 pandemic, towards greater use of industrial policy tools to attract investments, reduce reliance on liberalization, and promote targeted growth. This trend has extended to both Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs).
In the Johor–Singapore Special Economic Zone (Malaysia), preferential tax rates have been directed towards manufacturing and service activities in fields such as artificial intelligence, medical devices, space, and qualified workers.
In Saint Kitts and Nevis Exclusive Economic Zone, which extends 200 nautical miles from its Caribbean coast, the benefits of the zone are linked to projects that promote specific sustainability goals, including water security and food security.
For SEZs associated with corridors, the report shows that policy measures can be aimed at transforming regional connectivity into investments, productive capacity, and participation in value chains, although results remain uneven.
For example, Cambodia has connected its SEZs with the Southern Economic Corridor (Bangkok – Phnom Penh – Ho Chi Minh City) and the Phnom Penh–Sihanoukville Highway. These zones are concentrated in three strategic points: Poipet (on the Thai border), Bavet (on the Vietnamese border), and Phnom Penh, which is an internal hub linked to both borders and the seaport.
The 2015–2025 industrial development policy has strengthened this strategic location, while trade and customs arrangements within ASEAN have reduced the costs of transporting intermediate goods across borders.
These conditions have supported a sectoral shift towards electronics, electrical components, and auto parts production, alongside continued clothing manufacturing.
The Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone exemplifies this transformation; by 2025, it hosted 113 companies specializing in electronics, electrical components, vehicle assembly, and auto parts. In 2025, the zone provided over 55,000 jobs and exported goods worth $2.14 billion, representing about 7% of the national exports.
In Malaysia, Johor State—the southernmost state bordering Singapore—has developed over more than two decades from a cross-border extension of Singapore’s economy. This development is centered around the Iskandar Malaysia zone, established in 2006 around industrial parks and service clusters that effectively expanded Singapore’s operational scope across the border.
According to the report, the Johor–Singapore Special Economic Zone, approved by both governments in January 2025, is an official binational framework covering more than 3,500 square kilometers across Iskandar Malaysia and Pengerang. Approved investments reached approximately $17.3 billion in the first nine months of 2025.
Whereas in Morocco, the Tanger Med port and industrial zones were built as a gateway to Europe, transforming locational advantage into export-oriented foreign direct investment through the physical integration of the port with a surrounding network of SEZs and industrial parks.
Investment is concentrated in proximity, with the main auto manufacturing cluster located just 35 minutes from the port, reducing inland transit time and variability between factory gates and vessel departures. Rail connectivity further strengthens this model; the port receives an average of six trains daily from Renault Tanger Med and two from Stellantis, each carrying up to 280 vehicles, reducing dependence on road haulage and extending the port’s reach beyond the immediate Tangier cluster.
The zone’s offerings include serviced industrial land with utilities, road infrastructure, built-to-suit warehouses delivered within six months, and a one-stop shop covering administrative and technical setup. The corridor extends across the Strait of Gibraltar through official cooperation with the port of Algeciras in Spain, including measures to facilitate cross-strait flows and a planned exchange of digitized traceability data on goods and trucks at access control points in both ports, effectively integrating Tanger Med into a binational logistics system that enhances its appeal to export-oriented investors.
For more details: World Investment Report 2026 – UNCTAD