Countries all over the world create fenced-in, geographically delimited ‘enclaves’ within their sovereign territories. Such enclaves have become known as ‘zones’ in economic and business parlances. These zones are distinguished from the rest of the land in terms of their specific administrative authority, benefits enjoyed by industries located in them and availability of better business facilities. Some of the zones are often deliberately conceived as ‘foreign’ territories functioning with a different set of economic laws compared with those applicable to the rest of the country. Being ‘foreign’ also implies that zones are different customs areas. Depending upon their specific purposes, benefits offered, economic regulations and administrative frameworks, the zones are called industrial zone (or estate), free trade zone (FTZ), export processing zone (EPZ), enterprise zone, special economic zone (SEZ) or free economic zone (FEZ). This taxonomy, however, is by no means fully exhaustive.

Zones should not be construed as products of the current phase of globalization that has been driven by breathtaking advances in information and computer technologies (ICT). Though modern zones can be dubbed as post-Second World War creatures with the first such zone coming up at the Shannon International Airport at Ireland in 1956, there are examples of zones during the mediaeval era, as well as in the early twentieth century. Over time, however, the visions of different countries on these zones, particularly in the developing world, have changed significantly.