First off,I want to define Free Zones:
"For as long as there is government, there will be human beings who wish to set up places free of restrictions that even the most Laisez Faire Government will tend to impose. Hence the Free Zone." -Me
A "Free Zone" is a generic term for any region in which there is no government control or regulation of any kind.A Free Zone can encompass an area from a single building or campus to an entire region.
Ideally, in a Free Zone there are no laws of any sort whatsoever, and people can do whatever they want, as expressed in the famous cosmopagan statement "do whatever you want, but harm no-one" . Free Zones can also be variously referred to as PFZs (Permanent Free Zones), AFZ (Autonomous Free Zones), PAZs (Permanent Autonomous Zones), AFZ (Anarchic Free Zones) and FZC (Free Zone - Creative region).
Other variants would include the Free Economic Zone , Data Haven, Autonomous Tax Haven,and so on,with similar themes.
I propose that we set up an area as a Scientific/Data Free Zone,where we place restrictions only on sciences related to human cloning,though not stem cell research.The areas would be tax-free and industries such as the Life Sciences and Software companies could base themselves there,with minimal restrictions as to their operations or the data they hosted.Of course,they would be subject to oversight where their interests clash with national interests.
It would definitely provide a boost to our economy and lure many different groups.
We could also form an Education Free Zone,where any form of academic research and learning that did not threaten national interests or human rights could be pursued without restriction as to their limits.It would attract many academics to our shores and encourage creativity and foster competition in Singapore's academic world.Naturally,we would vet these academics before they came in.
A good idea,but slightly hard to make feasible in reality.Such an idea would have to be tweaked heavily to make it work.
The statement "do whatever you want, but harm no-one" is already very ambigious. So, my opinion is, no, it is not feasible.
Free zone to develop life sciences? Maybe "free" would be too attractive a word to be used , as in a supermarket, soon you will be overcrowded and stampedes and injuries occur.
Then again, placing a control defies the "free" element. Singapore used to be a "Free Port" , what happened to that?
Free Zone? Do we have a lot of restrictions today? Name some.