much good work, even better progress will be achieved with the proper first class
talent of the right kind. As industries develop further, this may become more acute.
An important public enterprise may act as a nucleus for a cluster of flourishing
private companies, though it might not be easy to start at a moment’s notice.
However, it certainly depends on the skills of the rare enterprising manager. In
order to achieve economic development at an optimum rate, it is primordial to attract
many types of economic investors with as many talented people as possible. As a
means to attract investors and encourage exports, many countries have exploited the
possibilities of the export processing zone (EPZ), a specialised industrial estate
located physically and/or administratively outside the customs barrier, oriented to
export production. It is not necessarily a specific zone (Likosky 2003), located near
the port area. The buildings and services provided in the EPZs enable transforming
imported raw materials and intermediate goods into manufactured finished goods,
for export without incurring customs duty. If part (or all) the goods are sold locally,
normal duty has to be paid.
Often, apart from custom duty exemption, EPZ firms are also exempted from
legislation such as labour laws and domestic taxes. The export processing zone is
thus an “enclave” within which firms, mainly foreign, enjoy special privileges which
do not apply to the country as a whole. Other names include Special Economic
Zones (SEZs) or Free Trade Zone (FTZ).
Mauritius used the EPZ approach to attract investors in the 1970s and 1980s to
locate their labour-intensive activities in Mauritius, with several benefits and a
package of fiscal concessions. (Zafar 2011, Bheenick and Schapiro 2006). Gradually, several reforms solved recurrent problems. Under certain basic conditions, the
Mauritian EPZ model could be useful to other countries.
Technology, as well as machinery, encompasses organisation of production,
knowledge, whether embodied in hardware or software, people, institutionalised
practices.
It follows that technological capability is the ability to make effective use of
technology. This includes the capability to choose technology, operate processes and
produce goods or services. It also includes the capability to manage change in
products and processes, and in the associated procedures and organisations.
Thus technological capability involves the following:
(i) the ability to search for available alternatives and to select appropriate
technologies,
(ii) the ability to make selective use of technology in producing goods and/or
services,
(iii) adapting technology to specific production conditions,
(iv) bringing minor innovation into the technology,
(v) research and development (R&D) facilities in institutions,
(vi) carrying out basic research.
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1 Introduction to Infrastructure
talent of the right kind. As industries develop further, this may become more acute.
An important public enterprise may act as a nucleus for a cluster of flourishing
private companies, though it might not be easy to start at a moment’s notice.
However, it certainly depends on the skills of the rare enterprising manager. In
order to achieve economic development at an optimum rate, it is primordial to attract
many types of economic investors with as many talented people as possible. As a
means to attract investors and encourage exports, many countries have exploited the
possibilities of the export processing zone (EPZ), a specialised industrial estate
located physically and/or administratively outside the customs barrier, oriented to
export production. It is not necessarily a specific zone (Likosky 2003), located near
the port area. The buildings and services provided in the EPZs enable transforming
imported raw materials and intermediate goods into manufactured finished goods,
for export without incurring customs duty. If part (or all) the goods are sold locally,
normal duty has to be paid.
Often, apart from custom duty exemption, EPZ firms are also exempted from
legislation such as labour laws and domestic taxes. The export processing zone is
thus an “enclave” within which firms, mainly foreign, enjoy special privileges which
do not apply to the country as a whole. Other names include Special Economic
Zones (SEZs) or Free Trade Zone (FTZ).
Mauritius used the EPZ approach to attract investors in the 1970s and 1980s to
locate their labour-intensive activities in Mauritius, with several benefits and a
package of fiscal concessions. (Zafar 2011, Bheenick and Schapiro 2006). Gradually, several reforms solved recurrent problems. Under certain basic conditions, the
Mauritian EPZ model could be useful to other countries.
Technology, as well as machinery, encompasses organisation of production,
knowledge, whether embodied in hardware or software, people, institutionalised
practices.
It follows that technological capability is the ability to make effective use of
technology. This includes the capability to choose technology, operate processes and
produce goods or services. It also includes the capability to manage change in
products and processes, and in the associated procedures and organisations.
Thus technological capability involves the following:
(i) the ability to search for available alternatives and to select appropriate
technologies,
(ii) the ability to make selective use of technology in producing goods and/or
services,
(iii) adapting technology to specific production conditions,
(iv) bringing minor innovation into the technology,
(v) research and development (R&D) facilities in institutions,
(vi) carrying out basic research.
16
1 Introduction to Infrastructure