UNB, Dhaka :
Country’s exports to key destinations like Germany, the UK and Italy posted modest growth in the first two months (July-August) of the current fiscal year (2014-15) compared to the same period in the last fiscal (2013-14).
During the July-August of fiscal 2014-15, exports to Germany totaled $ 885.35 million, which was 17.22 percent of total export earnings for the two-month period.
Of the amount, knitwear accounted for $ 489.23 million, woven garments $ 318.83 million and frozen shrimp $ 16.32 million, according to the latest figures provided by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
The EPB figures showed the total exports to the UK during the July-August period as $ 498.76 million, which was 9.70 percent of the total export earnings for the period.
The export of RMG items to the UK accounted for $ 446.56 million in July-August of 2014-15, a growth of 4.60 percent over $ 426.91 million during the same period of the previous fiscal (2013-14). The home textile export to the UK during the period was $ 9.89 million, frozen shrimp $ 10.55 million and bicycles $ 16.44 million.
The exports to France during the period increased to $ 244.04 million, which accounted for 4.75 percent of the total export earnings for the two- month period.
The RMG exports to France declined to $ 227.14 million in July-August of the fiscal 2014-15 as against $ 240.87 million during the same period of the previous fiscal (2013-14), showing a 5.70 percent fall.
The exports to Italy totaled $ 225.93 million in this July-August period with knitwear fetching $ 138.64 million, woven garment $ 62.60 million and leather, leather goods and footwear $ 18.27 million. The exports to Belgium amounted to $ 204.37 millionfor the period that included knitwear $ 82.51 million, woven garment $ 75.84 million and frozen shrimp $ 29.98 million.
Export earnings from the USA, the largest market for Bangladesh goods, totaled $ 892.47 million, which was 17.36 percent of the total export earnings for the period.
The Netherlands, another big export destination for Bangladesh, imported goods worth $ 155.64 million during the July-August period. The amount included knitwear $ 64.71 million, woven garment $ 42.13 million and frozen shrimp $ 28.24 million.
Among the Middle East, Far East and South Asian countries, exports to Japan totaled $ 145.64 million, Singapore $ 17.50 million and China $ 136.53 million.
Among the South Asian countries, exports to India amounted to $ 77.40 million during the two-month period that included jute and jute made goods $ 10.85 million and woven garment $ 19.97 million while exports to Australia totaled $ 93.36 million, including $ 32.09 million from woven garments and $ 50.14 million from knitwear.
