Following consultations on the 4th, the two sides said the 'mega special zone' bill would be introduced this month. Its core is to group several municipalities so that production and research in industries such as semiconductors, batteries and biotechnology are concentrated in one area.

The heart of the bill is the scope of regulatory exemptions. The draft includes shorter permitting procedures, simplified land-use rezoning, and priority allocation of power and water infrastructure, reflecting complaints that sites and electricity are the bottlenecks in large capital projects.

The contested item is working hours. The draft applies flexibility to the 52-hour weekly cap only for research and development staff within the zones. Officials said the clause is being discussed together with wording that presumes social consensus.

Labour groups worry about the precedent of an exemption that starts with one occupational group and widens. Industry argues the competitive unit in semiconductor R&D is the project, not the week. The gap between the two is expected to dominate parliamentary review.

For localities, the bill is also about population and tax revenue. Designation brings corporate relocation along with housing and schooling demand, while neighbouring areas left out raise concerns about hollowing out.

This paper judges the bill's success will rest on predictability rather than the number of exemptions. Investment decisions turn less on how loose a rule is than on whether the same rule still applies three years later.