Twenty-five of the Bangladesh missions abroad have failed to achieve respective export targets for the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal (FY), (2013-14), mostly because of moderate growth of export and also slow growth over target, reports UNB.
The key Bangladesh missions like Washington, London, Ottawa, Beijing and New Delhi failed to achieve their July-December export target while some other important missions-Berlin, Madrid, Paris and Rome-have been able to reach their target for the period.
The overall export earnings for the July-December period of the current fiscal totalled US$14685.81 million against the strategic target of $14246.55 million having a growth of 3.08 per cent over the strategic target.
Of the 51 Bangladesh missions, 26 met their respective export target for the July-December period of the FY '14, according to the latest statistics provided by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
The 26 well-performing missions are Berlin, Madrid, Paris, Rome, The Hague, Stockholm, Brussels, Tokyo, Ankara, Seoul, Cairo, Hanoi, Amman, Kuwait, Colombo, Doha, Tashkent, Manama, Thimpu, Beirut, Lisbon, Male, Mexico City, Tripoli, Brunei and Port Louis.
Of the 25 Bangladesh missions that could not achieve their target for the first six months of the current FY, exports still marked a rise for 11 of them over the corresponding period of the last FY (2012-13). These missions are in Washington, London, Beijing, Canberra, Ottawa, Teheran, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Moscow, Kualalumpur and Muscat.
However, 14 missions-New Delhi, Bangkok, Katmandu, Dubai, Riyadh, Singapore, Geneva, Pretoria, Islamabad, Manila, Nairobi, Brasilia, Yangon and Rabat-saw export decline during the July-December period of the current FY compared to the same period of the last FY (2012-13).
The EPB figures revealed that out of the 17 Bangladesh missions having commercial wings, only five have achieved the export target set for them while 12 others could not achieve their target.
The five missions with commercial wings, which achieved their respective export target, are in Berlin, Madrid, Brussels, Tokyo and Paris.
Although the remaining 12 commercial wings could not achieve the target, but earnings of eight of them still saw increase over the 2012-13 FY. These are Washington, London, Beijing, Ottawa, Teheran, Canberra, Moscow and Kualalumpur.
The 26 Bangladesh missions that succeeded in achieving their target for the July-December period of the current FY accounted for $7731.21 million while the export earnings of the remaining 25 missions, which failed to achieve their target, totalled $6604.53 million.
The highest earnings over the six-month period, some $2827.85 million - almost one-fifth of total exports - were registered by the Washington mission, followed by the mission in Berlin which accounted for $2486.52 million and London $1475.15 million.
The strong showing from EU member states continued with the Madrid mission fetching $749.45 million during the July-December period.
Next was the Bangladesh mission in Italy, which earned almost $629.41 million, followed by missions in Ottawa and The Hague, with approximately $551.50 million and $710.40 million respectively. The New Delhi mission managed to fetch only $182.49 million.
