According to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the country fetched $ 10,958.62 million in July-May period against $ 9,410.55 million in the corresponding period of 2005-06. The export target for July-May period was fixed at $ 11187.50 million.

Despite growth, knitwear missed the export target by 6.23 percent. Knitwear fetched $ 4,067.11 million against the target of $ 4,337.17 million, although it recorded 19.78 percent growth.

"Though we missed the target, we have maintained a steady growth in the knitwear sector," said Fazlul Haque, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA).

"Primarily we have identified three major reasons to miss the export target -- political volatility during October-December period of 2006, labour unrest in the apparel sector in 2006, and warm winter in the western countries that causes poor sales of sweater and heavy knit products," he said.

However, the BKMEA president is very much optimistic to increase knitwear export in the coming days.

During the July-May period, woven garments fetched $ 4,182.88 million against $ 3,646.99 million in the corresponding period of the previous financial year, showing 14.69 percent export growth.

According to the EPB statistics, frozen foods, ceramic products, handicrafts, footwear, light engineering, cut flowers, agro-processed food and vegetables also registered significant increases, contributing to the overall export growth.

Although exports of leather, pharmaceuticals and petroleum by- products grew in the July-May period, the sectors missed the export target.

On the other hand, export of jute goods, chemical fertiliser, raw jute, tobacco, bi-cycle, tea and electronics goods declined. The products also failed to reach export targets during the period.

On month-to-month basis, the overall exports of May 2007 were 10.10 percent higher. In May 2007, the country fetched $ 1,043.95 million against $ 1,042.89 million in May 2006.