"I have worked very hard," said Mr. Pangasa, whose success story reflects the boom in Indian garment exports.

In 2006 90 percent of Bangladesh's total earnings from garment exports came from its exports to the United States and Europe.

Bangladesh's garment exports - mainly to the US and Europe - make up nearly 80% of the country's export income.

Aided by a favorable exchange rate, garment exports were up 33 percent in the first five months of the year, compared with 1999.

As Bangladesh's garment exports grew from $32 million to $5.9 billion in the last two decades, his business grew too.

America now takes in 85 percent of the country's garment exports.

Exports to the EU accounted for "46.13 percent of the country's total garment exports".

For many years, the United States has been Sri Lanka's biggest market for garments, receiving more than 63% of the country's total garment exports.

The Act's apparel special provision, which permits lesser-developed countries to use foreign fabric for their garment exports, was to expire in September 2007.

Remittances are the country's second-largest source of foreign revenue, after garment exports.