In September 2007, the Government ofBangladesh (GoB) requested that the Board of Investmentdraft an economic zones policy (EZ Policy). The policy wasto cover the entire zone regime of Bangladesh, includingexport processing zones, industrial estates, and specialeconomic zones, both public and private. Export processingzones had long been a key tool in Bangladesh for creatingjobs and increasing exports. In addition, there were 67industrial estates - at least one in each ofBangladesh's 64 districts - which catered primarily tothe domestic market. Both the eight export processing zonesand the industrial estates had mixed success. When the GoBcommissioned the EZ Policy, the IFC Bangladesh InvestmentClimate Fund (BICF) agreed to fund the drafting of thepolicy. In doing this, IFC BICF could have contracted aninternational consulting company with world-wide expertisein drafting EZ Policies in multiple countries to draft theideal policy that would have incorporated the bestinternational practices available, avoided common pitfallsin developing economic zones, and relied on the traditionalwisdom of the best practitioners.