Bangladesh's export earnings reached 3.34 billion U.S. dollars during the July-October period of the current fiscal, marking a rise of 22.7 percent, but it slowed down from the 31.49 percent growth in September, The Daily Star reported Thursday.

According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the export growth of two major foreign exchange earners -- woven and knitwear- - slowed significantly to 9 percent and 5 percent respectively in October of fiscal 2006-07 (July 2006-June 2007).

The rise in exports of woven garments was 31 percent, while knitwear exports grew 35 percent in September, but in the month of October, it come down to 22.7 percent and 30.14 percent respectively.

The garment exporters attributed this slow growth to the labor unrest in the sector, which occurred in May this year.

"We lost huge export orders during the labor unrest in the garment sector. Buyers felt worried to place orders in Bangladesh, " SM Fazlul Hoque, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), was quoted by the daily as saying.

"As a result, we lost to our competitors who gained huge orders, " he said, adding that export orders that were placed to Vietnam, one of Bangladesh's competitors, grew more than 40 percent during the period.

Echoing the BGMEA president, Fazlul Haque, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, expressed the same view.

He said "This is basically the effect of labor unrest which started in May 2006 and continued for several months, which drastically hampered our business."

He said "It was the time while foreign buyers are used to place their orders in Bangladesh. But we had to miss most of the orders at that time as many buyers shifted their orders to another country due to labor unrest".

Apart from woven and knitwear, export earnings from frozen food, home textile, footwear, petroleum by-products, ceramic products, handicrafts, cut flower, agriculture-processed goods and engineering products saw a steady growth during the July-October period.

The growth of exports of pharmaceuticals, chemical fertilizers, vegetables, tobacco and jute goods, however, declined and failed to achieve the target during the period.