Experts: SEZs serve critical role in preparedness, trade, and innovation

Special economic zones are not isolated enclaves, but connected networks, policy laboratories, and shock absorbers for a more resilient, digital, and inclusive BRICS economy, officials and experts said on Thursday.

Their comments came at the 2026 Hangzhou Dialogue on Special Economic Zones in BRICS, a key event of the fifth Global Digital Trade Expo, which opened in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province.

Highlighting the China Center for Cooperation on Development of Special Economic Zones in BRICS Countries, which was established last March in the city, Liu Fei, its Party secretary, said the center has entrusted Hangzhou with "an important mission to serve the greater BRICS cooperation".

"Since its establishment, Hangzhou has joined hands with BRICS partners to issue the initiative on artificial intelligence cooperation and to advance the rollout of international e-commerce standards in BRICS countries," he said.

Official figures show that in the first eight months of this year, Hangzhou's trade with BRICS countries reached 195.88 billion yuan ($29.17 billion), up 16.3 percent year-on-year, accounting for 28.9 percent of the city's total.

SEZs play a critical role in trade and investment, especially for BRICS, which represents nearly half of the world's population and about 40 percent of the global GDP in purchasing power terms, said Matthew Stephenson, CEO of the World Free Zones Organization, a non-profit entity supporting free zones.

"Zones are how countries can make themselves ready," he said, as they can incubate new policies and technologies, and better absorb shocks by being more predictable and adaptable than the national systems.

Global experiences and best practices should be brought to the BRICS community and vice versa, since there is a temptation in periods of uncertainty to turn inward, he added, and as China takes the rotating chair of BRICS in 2027, platforms like the Hangzhou dialogue and the China center will be even more important.

Indonesia, which joined BRICS as a full member in 2025, offered a concrete example.

SEZs have become an important vehicle for Indonesia to promote trade, investment, and industrial synergy, Ali Murtopo Simbolon, secretary-general of the country's national council for SEZs, said.

So far, Indonesia has developed 25 SEZs, covering an area of 23,797.88 hectares, he said. With the deepening cooperation between the BRICS countries, Indonesia seeks to continue strengthening industrial ecosystem, digital investment, and financial exchanges, among other areas, with BRICS partners.