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Towards transformation of the export processing zone regime in Namibia : a case for review of the enabling law

Developing countries use EPZs as a policy strategy to transform from import-substitution industrialisation to export-led economic development. To make up for lack of comparative advantage, developing countries offer various incentives including better infrastructure, lax regulatory environment and t...

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Other Authors: Soyeju, Olufemi Olugbemiga
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2017
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author2 Soyeju, Olufemi Olugbemiga
author_browse Soyeju, Olufemi Olugbemiga
author_facet Soyeju, Olufemi Olugbemiga
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2016 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Developing countries use EPZs as a policy strategy to transform from import-substitution industrialisation to export-led economic development. To make up for lack of comparative advantage, developing countries offer various incentives including better infrastructure, lax regulatory environment and tax exemptions, amongst others, to attract multinational corporations to invest in their countries. Although no specific international rules on EPZs exist, EPZs incentives such as tax exemptions and the relaxation of labour laws have been problematic at WTO and ILO, respectively. Like most countries, Namibia launched its EPZ programme following the promulgation of the EPZ Act 9 of 1995 with the objectives of attracting direct investments, creating employment, expanding exports, increasing foreign exchange earnings, and promoting skills and technology transfer. Generally, the Namibian EPZ programme has not been successful. Therefore, this study makes a comparative analysis of the EPZ Act as a policy instrument for the implementation of the EPZ programme in Namibia and the FIAS international best practice guidelines for the development of economic zones, to identify barriers to the achievement of the EPZ objectives and make a case for reform of the Namibian EPZ regime. The analysis identified a number of impediments to successful implementation of the EPZ programme, which includes a limited scope, absence of regulations, lack of private sector participation framework, conflicting roles of ODC, and the overly generous and WTO-inconsistent fiscal incentives. In the end, the study makes recommendations for the transformation of the Namibian EPZ programme into an effective policy instrument learning from international best practice guidelines for the development and management of economic zones.
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language English
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/58741 Towards transformation of the export processing zone regime in Namibia : a case for review of the enabling law Soyeju, Olufemi Olugbemiga amaliashikongo@yahoo.com Shikongo, Amalia Ndapandula UCTD Export processing zones Developing countries Namibia EPZ Law theses SDG-16 SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions Law theses SDG-17 SDG-17: Partnerships for the goals Developing countries use EPZs as a policy strategy to transform from import-substitution industrialisation to export-led economic development. To make up for lack of comparative advantage, developing countries offer various incentives including better infrastructure, lax regulatory environment and tax exemptions, amongst others, to attract multinational corporations to invest in their countries. Although no specific international rules on EPZs exist, EPZs incentives such as tax exemptions and the relaxation of labour laws have been problematic at WTO and ILO, respectively. Like most countries, Namibia launched its EPZ programme following the promulgation of the EPZ Act 9 of 1995 with the objectives of attracting direct investments, creating employment, expanding exports, increasing foreign exchange earnings, and promoting skills and technology transfer. Generally, the Namibian EPZ programme has not been successful. Therefore, this study makes a comparative analysis of the EPZ Act as a policy instrument for the implementation of the EPZ programme in Namibia and the FIAS international best practice guidelines for the development of economic zones, to identify barriers to the achievement of the EPZ objectives and make a case for reform of the Namibian EPZ regime. The analysis identified a number of impediments to successful implementation of the EPZ programme, which includes a limited scope, absence of regulations, lack of private sector participation framework, conflicting roles of ODC, and the overly generous and WTO-inconsistent fiscal incentives. In the end, the study makes recommendations for the transformation of the Namibian EPZ programme into an effective policy instrument learning from international best practice guidelines for the development and management of economic zones. tm2017 Centre for Human Rights LLM Unrestricted 2017-01-31T12:47:57Z 2017-01-31T12:47:57Z 2016 Mini Dissertation Shikongo, AN 2016, Towards transformation of the export processing zone regime in Namibia : a case for review of the enabling law, LLM Mini Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/58741> D2016 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/58741 en © 2016 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Export processing zones
Developing countries
Namibia EPZ
Law theses SDG-16
SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
Law theses SDG-17
SDG-17: Partnerships for the goals
Towards transformation of the export processing zone regime in Namibia : a case for review of the enabling law
title Towards transformation of the export processing zone regime in Namibia : a case for review of the enabling law
title_full Towards transformation of the export processing zone regime in Namibia : a case for review of the enabling law
title_fullStr Towards transformation of the export processing zone regime in Namibia : a case for review of the enabling law
title_full_unstemmed Towards transformation of the export processing zone regime in Namibia : a case for review of the enabling law
title_short Towards transformation of the export processing zone regime in Namibia : a case for review of the enabling law
title_sort towards transformation of the export processing zone regime in namibia a case for review of the enabling law
topic UCTD
Export processing zones
Developing countries
Namibia EPZ
Law theses SDG-16
SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
Law theses SDG-17
SDG-17: Partnerships for the goals
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/58741