Jong Woo Kang, Principal Economist, Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department of ADB discussed the rise and evolution of economic zones in Asia-Pacific, modalities and emerging trends. He shared that fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, factor costs, strategic location, institutional capacity, and state commitment are crucial factors for SEZs to be successful, while governance and rent seeking, wrong positioning, and lack of localized strategy contribute to failures in SEZs development. He underscored that the popularity of SEZs still remains strong under rapidly evolving environment (i.e., growth of services, knowledge economy, supply chain), but approach should be tailored to country’s economic and developmental context.