India recently signed free trade agreements with South Korea and with the ASEAN, and it may sign a similar agreement with the EU in 2010 – the country’s other major trading partners include China, Japan, the UAE, the UK and the USA. India’s exports for September 2009 were valued at $13.60 billion, while imports for the same period were valued at $21.37 billion. India is the fourth-largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity and a preferred destination for foreign direct investment. India’s Commerce Minister, Anand Sharma, estimates foreign investment in India will reach $35 billion for the twelve months ending March 2010.
All of these factors have inspired the global business community to consider India as a significant market for low-cost products and services of the highest quality. For years, Indian manufacturers and services providers have focused on reducing costs, increasing operational efficiency, and developing products and services for specific markets, most of them in the EU and the USA. India’s business services sector – particularly Information Technology (IT), IT-related services and business process outsourcing – has been among the country’s fastest growing sectors for the past few years and currently accounts for more than half of India's output (but less than one third of its labour force).

This fantastic growth has largely been fueled by direct foreign investment, as American and European companies have come to prize the availability of India’s low-cost, highly-skilled, well-educated and fluent English-speaking professionals. As of 2009, seven Indian firms were listed among the top fifteen technology outsourcing companies in the world.