Designed on the basis of the "inside the country, outside of customs" principle, FTZs, in addition to transshipment, also have warehousing and manufacturing functions. Local governments pricked up their ears immediately when talk of FTZs first began circulating, and have worked actively to get approval for zones of their own.
以「境內關外」的概念設計，在轉運之外還加上倉儲與製造等功能的自由貿易港區，能否解決台灣製造業發展的困境，順帶替航運業增加籌碼問題尚無定論，特別是國外航商對於勞工聘僱以及兩岸直航等問題能否解決疑慮未消之際，各地方政府卻早已如聞風而來，強力爭取。