International Roundtable for Trade and Competition Policy, Inc.

The International Roundtable on Trade and Competition Policy (the “Roundtable”) supports the creation of free economic cities worldwide.  Based on the principle of “one country, two systems”, free economic cities could provide a prime illustration of the beneficial effects of the values promoted by the Roundtable.  Within these free markets, the role of a government will strictly be limited to the protection of its citizens’ security, property and related rights.  Consequently, the private sector will be allowed to operate freely to generate overall welfare within these enclaves of economic freedom.  Free economic cities will be governed by the three key and primordial principles of free trade, competitive markets and property rights protection.   

Free trade will ensure that global consumers can benefit from the working out of the basic law of comparative advantage, thereby guaranteeing the proper allocation of resources within free economic cities.  Property rights underpin the process of market competition.  Running through all of this is one single, large defining principle of government, which will apply in the free economic cities, competition as an organizing economic and governance principle.     

Free economic cities represent a major opportunity to capture the advantages that are gained by combining trade liberalization, competitive markets and property protection.  The Roundtable is strongly supportive of these developments.