[ the other image ]

A Free Zone

  • Gallery image
  • Gallery image
  • Gallery image
  • Gallery image
  • Gallery image
  • Gallery image
  • Gallery image
  • Gallery image

A plain of stones between the road that leads to the Wakhan valley and the river that marks the Afghan border – this is the designated Ishkoshim Free Economic Zone. We are participants of the 1st International Economic Forum of Tajikistan's Gorno Badakshan Region. We listen to the Free Zone's charismatic director who enthusiastically describes its potential: the strategic location between China and Afghanistan, the tax and customs exemptions, the cheap prices for land. We try to imagine the factory buildings and hotels, the fortress-like entry, the perfect black tarmac and bright green lawn as we have seen it in the brochures handed out.

Free or special economic zones are en vogue. They increasingly become the policy vehicle of choice whenever "development" is to be accelerated in a region (see, for example, Golden Boten City). Based on the hope that the forces of capitalism, unhampered by taxes, will do their magic and spearhead development for the greater good, such zones have mushroomed throughout Asia – especially in the peripheries and borderlands.

But what looks like neoliberal doctrine and big, state-sponsored development also serves local agendas. While the central government may hope for capitalism's magic, those trying to do business in the region may simply wish for more stability. The Free Zone promises 50 years of contractually guaranteed freedom from ever-changing regulations, 50 years of freedom from unpredictable stately interference.

About a hundred people have came to Ishkoshim to see the designated zone, among them government officials, embassy delegations, representatives of development agencies and NGOs, and a few potential investors. I ask the director of a major development bank what his first impression is. "It's a bold plan", he says, adding after a pause, "and we need bold plans."

Privacy Policy

Plain and simple: I take the principle of minimal data collection serious and try hard not to collect or process any personal data beyond the basics required to serve and maintain the website.

Specifically,

  • We do not use cookies.
  • We do not use third party analytics.
  • There is no contact form that would allow you to enter personal data.
  • We do not use advertising to run this website.

In order to serve this website, your IP address and information about your browser, operating system and screen resolution need to be collected and processed. theotherimage.com is a simple, handcrafted, static website hosted by Netlify. It uses fonts by Adobe Fonts (formerly Typekit). Both Netlify and Adobe automatically collect usage data, either generated by the use of this website or from the service infrastructure itself. This data is used for accounting and analytic purposes as well as for technical maintenance by these two companies. Neither Netlify nor Adobe use cookies to track you. Specifics can be found in their respective privacy policies.

The videos on this website are hosted by Vimeo. Depending on your browser configuration, Vimeo may use cookies and other tracking technologies as stated in their respective privacy policies.

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, please write to: Martin Saxer, LMU Munich, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Oettingenstr. 67, 80538 Munich, Germany.

This privacy policy has been updated on 30 December 2018.