Opportunities and Challenges: Prospects for Mukdahan Special Economic Zone

Abstract

The government is accelerating the development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) policy for region-wide development in cooperation with the neighboring countries. This paper aims to consider the opportunities and challenges of the government’s policy on Thailand’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in order to provide clearer view of situations in those areas to the policy makers, investors or people who are interested in this policy. This paper referred to the special economic zone in Mukdahan located on the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC). The findings showed that the second Mekong friendship bridge in Mukdahan offers the biggest opportunity of Mukdahan to develop its Special Economic Zone; however, logistics facilities are needed. Mukdahan’s economy mainly relies on border trade not industry. Furthermore, the small size of land and lack of infrastructure in Mukdahan Special Economic Zone remain the major challenges for Mukdahan to attract investors. The message is clear from the analysis of interviews that it will be a long way for Mukdahan to develop its Special Economic Zone, while activities concerning logistics development might be the right direction for Mukdahan to go. It is recommended that policy makers or policy analysts take into account the uniqueness of each special economic zones in terms of its economic activities and its feasibility and potentials as viable SEZ along with both internal and external factors.

Keywords: special economic zones, Mukdahan, East-West Economic Corridor