How are zone stakeholders responding?
In the past investors were seeking to lower costs and, since they were engaged mostly in labour-intensive operations, they sought out countries with low labour costs. Today, globalization places the emphasis on speed, efficiency and quality as well as cost, and these factors together influence where a business decides to locate. Policy-makers are increasingly concerned to maximize their country's comparative advantage for foreign investors and are shifting the focus from cheap labour to productive labour. This realization is changing the way government, employers and even trade union organizations view human resource issues. For countries to remain competitive, they must get this mix of cost and quality factors right by raising the capacity of their human resources, ensuring stable labour relations and improving the working and living conditions of zone workers.