DHAKA, Nov 15: Bangladesh expects to nearly double its earnings from textile exports by 2010 despite stiff competition in the global market, a textile sector leader said on Thursday.

Impoverished Bangladesh, which gets more than 75 per cent of its total export earnings from its burgeoning textile sector, mainly ships its apparel products to the United Sates and Europe.

Annual earnings from the sector -- which directly employs about 2.4 million workers, a majority of them women -- stand at about $10 billion.

“But we have targeted up to $18 billion in three years,” Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury, President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said at the opening of a three-day exposition of textile products in the capital, Dhaka.

“But we need to survive the upcoming competition.”

Chowdhury said the country is already facing competition from China, Vietnam, India and Pakistan, and will face increased competition if the European Union allows Chinese textile producers unlimited access to its vast market at the end of this year.

Currently the EU controls the flow of cheap Chinese-made textile products under a quota system to protect its own manufacturers.

The regime expires Dec. 31, and European clothing importers have been pressuring the EU not to extend the limits.

The US also has quota limits on Chinese textile products that last until the end of 2008.

“If these deadlines go, we’ll face more competition,” Chowdhury said.

He said product diversification would be a key strategy for Bangladesh manufacturers to exploit the global market and hold off the potential new competition.

He said to achieve the $18 billion target the country also needs to improve its port facilities and cut the interest rates for bank loans.

Local manufacturers were displaying their products at the three-day exposition -- BATEXPO -- to attract more overseas buyers, Chowdhury said.

—APP