Thirty-two out of 53 Bangladesh missions abroad have failed to achieve their respective export targets for the first four months (July-Oct) period of the current fiscal year (2015-16). The key Bangladesh missions like the ones in Berlin, Brussels, Beijing, Moscow, Paris, Rome and Geneva have failed to achieve their export targets for the four-month period while some other important missions-Canberra, New Delhi, Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Jakarta, and Washington-have been able to reach their targets for the July-October period. The overall export earnings for the July-October period of the current fiscal amounted to $ 10,130.49 million against the strategic target of $ 10,523 million, showing a fall of 3.73 percent over the strategic target. Of the 53 Bangladesh missions, 21 met their respective export targets set for the period, according to the latest statistics provided by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). The 21 well-performing missions are in Canberra, New Delhi, Tokyo, Singapore, Dubai, Yangon, Washington, Brunei, Nairobi, Kuwait, Seoul, Jakarta, Doha, Bangkok, Tripoli, Muscat, Mexico City, Manila, Hanoi, Pretoria and Colombo. Of the 32 missions that could not achieve their targets for the July-October period, exports still marked a rise for 10 of them over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal (2014-15). These missions are in Ottawa, London, Kuala Lumpur, Madrid, Baghdad, Katmandu, Male, Islamabad, Tashkent and Rabat. However, 22 missions-Brussels, Beijing, Berlin, Tehran, Moscow, Paris, Geneva, Manama, Thimpu, Cairo, Athens, Hong Kong, Rome, Amman, Port Luis, Beirut, The Hague, Lisbon, Riyadh, Stockholm, Brasilia and Ankara-saw exports decline during the July-October period of the current fiscal compared to the same period of the previous fiscal. The EPB figures revealed that out of the 18 Bangladesh missions having commercial wings, only seven have achieved their export targets while 11 others could not achieve their respective targets. The seven missions with commercial wings, which achieved their respective export target, are in Canberra, New Delhi, Tokyo, Singapore, Dubai, Yangon and Washington. Although the remaining 11 commercial wings could not achieve the target, the earnings of four of them like Kuala Lumpur, Ottawa, London and Madrid still saw increase in this four-month period of 2015-16fiscal. The remaining seven commercial wings those saw exports decline over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal were Brussels, Beijing, Berlin, Tehran, Moscow, Paris and Geneva. The highest earnings over the four-month period, some $ 1987.51 million – almost one-fifth of total exports – were registered by the Washington mission, followed by the mission in Berlin which accounted for $ 1594.64 million and London $ 1176.82 million. The strong showing from EU member states continued with the Madrid mission fetching $ 572.89 million during the July-October period. The next was the Bangladesh mission in Italy, which earned almost $ 390.87 million, followed by missions in Ottawa with approximately $ 335.10 million. The New Delhi mission managed to fetch only $ 216.54 million.
