The Hidden Globe

Abrahamian covers the history and development of special economic zones (SEZs), largely through the career of Frenchman Claude de Baissac, a consultant who helped governments around the world create them. An SEZ and its variations are areas where raw goods or partially finished products can be imported to undergo manufacturing into finished products without being subject to typical import-export fees, tariffs, or taxes. Baissac grew up in Réunion, an island territory of France in the Indian Ocean. His ancestors were enslavers who ran a sugar plantation on the nearby island of Mauritius. While visiting Mauritius as a child, he became fascinated with an SEZ on the island, Coromandel, technically an export-processing zone (EPZ).

Beginning in the 1970s, as many countries gained independence, organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank began promoting SEZs as a way to improve these countries’ economic development. Mauritius was a leader in the development of SEZs. In the middle of the 20th century, a Mauritian watchmaker of Swiss descent named José Poncini began to import watchmaking components to the island and training local women to make watch jewels, which were then exported to other countries. SEZs later became widely established on the island, particularly by Chinese manufacturers looking to get around European trade limits.