According to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), during the July-October period in FY 2006-07, exports of woven and knitwear product to the two markets surged 25.44 percent and 23.45 percent respectively.

During the period, the country exported $573.29million woven and $943.3million knitwear to the EU, while it exported $792.93 million woven and $290.81million knitwear to the US.

"RMG export earnings from the US market may cross $3 billion this fiscal, if we can continue the growth," said Abdus Salam Murshedy, the immediate past vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

He said, "Competitive price advantage with other suppliers, especially after the US authority re-imposed an interim quota restriction on certain categories of Chinese garments in mid-2005, has helped in surging our exports."

Quoting a latest data released by the US department of commerce, he said with an earning of about 280 million dollars in October, Bangladesh's RMG exports to the USA during the January-October period in 2006 stood at 2485 million dollars.

"This figure is very significant, he said, stressing government support to continue the process of external trade.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh's share of its total RMG exports to the US is 33 per cent, while it is 55 percent in the EU.

"In the post-MFA period, the Bangladeshi RMG exporters upgraded their productivity and quality to retain the international market. Besides, competitive price advantages contributed a lot to the rapid rise in RMG exports," said Fazlul Haque, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA).

He said Bangladeshi RMG exporters had been doing a brisk business in the EU market since January 2006 and the exports would have upped, if some of the buyers had not shifted to another country because of the political crisis that persisted here for a certain period.

In the FY 2005-06, Bangladesh fetched $3.9 billion from exports to the EU and $2.6billion from the US.