From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Many countries have, or have had at some time, designated areas where companies are taxed very lightly or not at all to encourage development or for some other reason. These are known as free economic zones.
Sometimes they are called free ports, by an analogy with free ports known for a long time in history - the ports free of customs or with favorable customs regulations, e.g., the free port of Trieste. Very often free ports are parts of free economic zones.
