Tomorrow, the National Government through the Department of International Trade and Investment is expected to launch the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Foundation Policy that defines the various SEZs, and their different investment opportunities available. This Policy will also talk about the various fees that will be charged by the SEZ Authority to those who are primary locators or invested within SEZs, and those who are located within the various SEZs in the country. But what is a Special Economic Zone and why is the National Government so focused on establishing a number of them in the country in the next decade? So, a Special Economic Zone is an area in a country that is designed to generate positive economic growth. This means generating revenue and employment through manufacturing and production of goods through downstream processing, which simply means the making goods and products using the country’s own resources and then selling them to markets in other countries. The Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru gave a clear explanation of how a SEZ functions, differentiating it from a regular business operation. “In SEZs you give a red-carpet treatment to all your investors. You give them work permits within the SEZs; you give them visa on arrival within the SEZs. You give them incentives, like you don’t pay duty on the goods coming in or they don’t pay taxes like other companies do. This is a special geographic area where you give special treatment to investors to attract them to come,” said the Minister. PNG must also step up and compete in gaining investors in the SEZs. Minister Maru said the rest of the world is competing for investments and PNG is stepping up. “We are stepping up, the Marape-Rosso Government is stepping up. To go from only one SEZ in the last five years to seven more new ones this year, is a great achievement by our government,” said Minister Maru. Meanwhile, the launching of the SEZ Foundation Policy will take place at the APEC Haus in Port Moresby city, the event commencing at around 6pm in the evening where representatives from the government, businesses and investors are expected to attend.