"There was a submarine cable laid between Singapore and India which probably had quite an effect, and export processing zones were redesignated so there would have been some industrial investment due to tax breaks, " he said.

BBC: India sees jump in foreign investment

He said the companies would "explore possibilities of equity participation" in natural gas export projects, gas processing businesses and gas-based petrochemical projects in Africa.

WSJ: India Plans to Step Up Oil, Gas Investment in Africa

These export-processing zones provided for duty-free entry and duty-free exit for export-oriented goods and helped in the transfer of technology and skill to the developed countries.

CNN: Thai Inquiry

Joe Atiemo of the Cocoa Board of Ghana is one of the believers. (108K AIFF sound or 108K WAV sound) There are plans in the country for more downstream cocoa processing and more factories to export cocoa products, including high-quality chocolate.

CNN: Ghana cocoa industry at crossroads

Ready meals will become more popular: Brazilians still cook most meals from scratch, even though the country has some of the world's biggest food-processing companies, which export their tins and sachets to America and Europe.

ECONOMIST: Domestic labour

Since 1970, when it established an export-processing zone, its foreign sales of textiles and sugar have boomed and its per capita income is now the second highest in Africa.

ECONOMIST: Trading places

China is a prominent export-processing economy, which means that its factories import lots of raw materials and intermediate goods to stoke the machines and processes that manufacture and assemble the finished goods it exports to the United States and elsewhere.

FORBES: Mitt Romney: Fighting the Last Decade's Trade Battles