August 09, 2006	Wednesday	Rajab 13, 1427

DHAKA, Aug 8: Exports from Bangladesh rose above a record $10 billion in the past fiscal year led by the country's booming textile industry, the government said on Tuesday.

Exports rose 21.6 per cent to $10.53 billion in the year ended June 30, powered by a record 24 per cent export rise in textiles shipments such as t-shirts, jeans and other clothing items, data released by the country's Export Promotion Bureau said.

“Since the country's independence in 1971, this is the highest export growth in our history. And all the credit should go to our ready-made garments exporters,” export bureau chief Mir Shabuddin Mohammad said.

Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest nations, made gains under a global textile quota-free regime launched in Jan, 2005 that initially raised concern that large producers such as China would squeeze out poorer nations.—APP