WORLD EXPERIENCE IN CREATING FREE ECONOMIC ZONES AND ISSUES OF REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

This thesis examines the world experience of establishing free economic zones and analyzes their role in regional economic development. Free economic zones are widely used as institutional instruments for attracting investment, accelerating industrial modernization, increasing export capacity, creating employment, and improving regional infrastructure. International practice shows that the success of such zones depends not only on tax and customs incentives but also on strategic location, quality of governance, transport and logistics connectivity, skilled labor, integration with domestic enterprises, and long-term regional development policy. The thesis reviews the experiences of China, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and several European countries and identifies key lessons relevant to Uzbekistan. The study argues that free economic zones should not function as isolated preferential territories; rather, they should become integrated growth centers that generate spillover effects for surrounding districts and regions. The main directions of regional impact include investment attraction, industrial diversification, export expansion, employment generation, infrastructure modernization, technology transfer, and local supplier development. The paper concludes that Uzbekistan can increase the effectiveness of free economic zones by strengthening local value chains, improving monitoring indicators, aligning zone specialization with regional potential, and ensuring institutional transparency.