A Dot Com Entrepreneur on Honduras’s LEAP Zones

ZEDE could make Honduras a beacon of hope and an example to the world.

Editor's Note: This essay was originally published as the lead article at ZEDE: Zonas de Empleo y Desarrollo Económico, in Spanish. Please enjoy the English version, as originally written by Rod. The Spanish translation follows. We encourage you to visit the original.

by Rod D. Martin
November 14, 2013

Sometimes world-changing innovation isn’t just some new technology. Indeed, some of the most important innovations aren’t technological at all. The English Bill of Rights and the United States Constitution fall into this category: mere thoughts put to paper that brought about cascades of positive change in every area of life, from the abolition of slavery to walking on the Moon.

Someday soon, I believe we’ll look upon Honduras’ ZEDE Zones in much the same way.

While the world is brimming over with “special economic zones”, ZEDE (sometimes called “Model Cities”) vaults Honduras into an entirely different class. While most special zones give their users some sort of tax or regulatory break, Ho…