{"id":212981,"date":"2026-11-14T19:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-11-14T22:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keynews.sr\/?p=212981"},"modified":"2026-11-14T19:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-11-14T22:20:07","slug":"ezoti-working-on-establishing-economic-zones-in-suriname","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keynews.sr\/en\/ezoti-working-on-establishing-economic-zones-in-suriname\/","title":{"rendered":"EZOTI working on establishing economic zones in Suriname"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"intro-text\">\n<p>The Ministry of Economische Zaken, Ondernemerschap en Technologische Innovatie (EZOTI; Economic Affairs, Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation) is working on plans to designate various areas in Suriname as economic zones. These include areas where many shops and other commercial activities are concentrated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dropcap \" style=\"background-color: #ffffff;color: #000000;border-color: #ffffff\">T<\/span>his was announced by Minister Andrew Baasaron on Wednesday, ahead of the meeting of the Raad van Ministers (Council of Ministers). According to Baasaron, his ministry is working with Grondbeleid en Bosbeheer (GBB; Land Policy and Forest Management) and Openbare Werken en Ruimtelijke Ordening (OWRO; Public Works and Spatial Planning) on the Wet Ruimtelijke Ordening (Spatial Planning Act).<\/p>\n<p>In that context, an assessment is being made of which areas qualify to be designated as economic zones. \u201cWe are now looking at where these economic zones should be located,\u201d the minister said. He named Paranam, Albina and Nickerie as possible locations. Areas in Paramaribo are also being considered, particularly in residential neighbourhoods where many commercial activities take place.<\/p>\n<p>By designating economic zones, the government aims to create more order in the establishment of shops and other businesses. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/keynews.sr\/en\/minister-baasaron-we-cannot-simply-lower-product-prices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Baasaron<\/a>, there are several areas across the country that could qualify for this. \u201cThese areas must become a trade facility; we must start trading,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n<h2>Suriname as an international trade hub<\/h2>\n<p>The minister also sees opportunities to make better use of Suriname\u2019s strategic geographical location for international trade. He pointed out that, according to him, some countries earn billions every month by importing and reselling goods. According to Baasaron, Suriname could play a larger role as a trade hub, with goods imported from countries to the south and then exported to other parts of the world.<\/p>\n<h2>Neighbourhood surveys for shop permits must improve<\/h2>\n<p>In addition to the plans for economic zones, the ministry also wants to improve procedures for issuing shop permits. Baasaron acknowledged that neighbourhood surveys, which are part of the permit process, are not always handled carefully. \u201cSometimes only two neighbours are interviewed and sometimes, if you are unlucky, one neighbour is not at home,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n<p>According to him, such situations can frustrate local residents because they feel insufficiently involved in decision-making on the establishment of shops in their area. To address these problems, EZOTI is working on digitising the procedures and providing clearer guidelines for conducting neighbourhood surveys. \u201cWe are digitising the processes and providing better guidelines on how neighbourhood surveys should be conducted,\u201d Baasaron said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Minister Baasaron announces that Suriname is developing economic zones in Paranam, Albina, Nickerie and Paramaribo to stimulate trade and improve spatial planning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":171679,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"no","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_29234516172805655_1445375691985227":"","facebook_29234516172805655_1158244960706604":"","facebook_29234516172805655_108923581283702":"","facebook_29234516172805655_1309923202201307":"","facebook_29234516172805655_1093738170500407":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[{"account":"facebook_29234516172805655_1309923202201307","service":"facebook","timestamp":1794694822,"status":"success"}],"rop_publish_now_status":"done","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16342],"tags":[27556,22037,27623,23792,16291,20032,16292],"class_list":["post-212981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","tag-andrew-baasaron","tag-economic-affairs","tag-economic-zone","tag-ezoti","tag-key-news","tag-nieuws","tag-suriname"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/media.keynews.sr\/2026\/05\/Andrew-Baasaron-RvM.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keynews.sr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keynews.sr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keynews.sr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keynews.sr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keynews.sr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/keynews.sr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keynews.sr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keynews.sr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keynews.sr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keynews.sr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}