With rising global competitiveness, countries must do more to attract and keep businesses. One way involves attracting a core of foreign investors with the help of special economic zones (SEZ) and then integrating them in the local economy, causing industrial clustering. The purpose of this research is to find out the degree of cooperation between Latvian SEZ, and social partners in the form of various employer associations and their members. The empirical research relied on survey results conducted among 27 business associations with the combined member count of over one hundred businesses, operating in 12 broad fields. Initial results gathered from the 24 organizations that responded to the interview questions show that there is a very low degree of involvement with the SEZ by the various social partners. This shows that something has gone awry in the way SEZ operate in Latvia and has led to a lot of missed opportunities from both sides.