Bangladesh Eyes $25 Billion Textile Exports by 2013

Bangladesh expects to treble its textiles exports to $25 billion over the next five years at the expense of China and India, which have to cope with rising currencies, a top business leader said on Wednesday. The Bangladesh taka has traded around 68.5 per dollar since the middle of 2007. But China's yuan has risen 8.6 percent and India's rupee has gained more than 2 percent over the same period.

Both currencies are expected to continue rallying, which makes exports more expensive for buyers in other countries. "China and India are our major competitors and we have proved our ability by beating them both in price and quality in some categories which will help us to sustain our export growth," said Anwarul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, president of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). "We are receiving huge orders from buyers and quite confident to achieve a rapid export growth in future," Parvez said in an interview.

Source: Reuters