Dhaka, February 17:

Bangladesh’s readymade garment exports grew by 11 per cent in 2005 following abolition of global textile quotas, defying fears the trade rule changes would crush the sector, figures showed today.

Readymade garment exports rose to $6.89 billion in 2005 from $6.22 billion, according to the data released by Bangaldesh’s Export Promotion Bureau. Manufacturers and experts said the figures showed Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest nations, has fared well under the new quota-free regi-me and is set to consolidate itself as established textile state.

“We’ve proved all the doomsayers wrong. The results show Bangladesh is almost unbeatable in low-priced segments of textile exports,” said Fazlul Haq, president of the Bangl-adesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

The decades-old international quota system known as the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) that expired in December 2004 gave developing countries guaranteed access to developed countries’ markets for their textile products. Analysts and multilateral lending agencies had forecast smaller countries, such as Bangladesh, Nep-al, Vietnam and Cambodia, wo-uld be badly hit in the post-MFA regime to China and India with their vast economies.