Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) says these 21 missions fetched only $1394.61 against the target of $1576.31million.

However, the missions in Cairo, Riyadh, Colombo, Manila, Amman, Katmandu, Berlin and New Delhi marked a rise in exports over the volume during the same period of the previous financial year.

But the rest 13 missions recorded a slow growth in exports compared to such growth in the first half of the 2005-06 fiscal. These missions are Hong Kong, Singapore, Islamabad, Dubai, Bangkok, Rabat, Kuwait, Doha, Manama, Tashkent, Muscat, Thimphu and Brunei.

Meanwhile, 13 out of the 16 commercial wings in the foreign missions also achieved their export targets set for the same period.

The commercial wings that lagged behind the export target are Geneva, Kolkata and Los Angels.

The 23 missions in Washington, London, Brussels, The Hague, Ottawa, Stockholm, Madrid, Tehran, Beijing, Hanoi, Ankara, Moscow, Jakarta, Pretoria, Yangon, Tripoli, Seoul, Paris, Canberra, Kuala Lumpur, Nairobi, Tokyo, and Rome posted a growth higher than that in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. These are among the 44 Bangladesh missions abroad.

"Mission wise export performance is slightly improving during the fist six months of the current fiscal," said an EPB high official.

He said businesspeople have a supplementary role to play in exploring new markets, as the Bangladeshi missions are on efforts to promote exports.

The actual export earning in the first six months of FY 2006-07 reached $6220.61million against the target of $6006.25 million, a 3.57 percent higher than the target and 25.80 percent more than that in the corresponding period of the previous year, EPB statistics shows.