Exports for July to January, the first seven month of the 2010-11 fiscal year, were up 40 percent at $12.18 billion from the same period in the previous year and were 18.56 percent above the target. ..Earnings from knitted textiles in July to January rose 43 percent from the previous year to $5.07 billion, while woven garment earnings rose 39 percent to $4.4 billion. ..Clothes account for 80 percent of Bangladesh’s overseas sales. Orders are growing from key markets in the United States and Europe and new markets such as Turkey, Japan and South Africa. ..Bangladesh’s cheap labour costs have helped it join the global supply chain for low-end textiles and clothing. ..Bangladesh has nearly doubled the minimum monthly wage for millions of workers in the garment industry to 3,000 taka ($43) but wages are still low compared with rivals such as China, India, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. ..Bangladesh makes garments for international brands such as JC Penney, Wal-Mart , HandM, Kohl’s, Marks and Spencer and Carrefour . ..Garments are one of the main foreign exchange earners of Bangladesh’s $90 billion economy, along with remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas. ..The government expects exports to exceed the target of $18.5 billion for this fiscal year as the global economy recovers. ..Exports rose 4.11 percent to $16.20 billion in the 2009/10 fiscal year that ended in June, but were below target”
Date:2/9/2011
Source:www.commodityonline.com