Nearly 5,000 apparel makers here initially sought government help when some top US and European buyers postponed and cut orders in the wake of the worst financial crisis since the 1930s Great Depression.

But clothing makers say that a massive diversion of orders from China, the world's largest producer of apparel, has more than compensated.

In the first quarter to September, garment shipments grew by a record 45 percent to 3.4 billion dollars, government data this week showed, with more than 90 percent of the exports going to the US and Europe.

"It's a huge change in fortune for us," said Golam Faruq, owner of the country's largest sweater manufacturer and a key supplier to British upmarket retailer Marks and Spencer.

"This month I got an unexpected 12-million-dollar order to make sweaters for a Swedish manufacturer. They told me in the past they used to give the order to Chinese manufacturers. But this year we offered a far better price," he said.

Faruq said his SQ Sweaters had also received dozens of small orders diverted from China as Bangladesh has became the top choice for producing low-priced basic items like T-shirts, denim pants, sweater and shirts.

Now the government's Export Promotion Bureau, which monitors shipment trends, is urging the industry to prepare for a "flood of orders" as the global recession boosts sales of the low-cost items it produces.

"We held several expositions in Europe and North America in the past month and top buyers told us to be prepared for a massive increase in orders in the months and years ahead," said Export Promotion Bureau head Shahab Ullah.

"They said people in the West have cut purchase of luxury goods and are switching to cheaper items. And it's our manufacturers, not the Chinese, who can supply the items at a price they now want."

Bangladesh's garment sector specialises in low-end clothing and is the impoverished country's main industry, pumping 11 billion dollars a year into the economy.

It accounts for about 80 percent of exports and employs more than 40 percent of its industrial workforce.

Bangladesh logged 6.2 percent economic growth last year, bolstered by a 17-percent increase in garment sales. This year, the government projected growth of 6.5 percent, banking on garment exports remaining strong.

Knitted items, led by T-shirts which last year made up a quarter of garment exports, were the main drivers of the growth, manufacturers said.

"This year thousands of Chinese factories have shut as they are no longer competitive because of higher wages and currency appreciation," said Fazlul Haque, head of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

"The buyers have no choice but to switch orders to another country. It has emerged as a new pattern in global sourcing. And so far it looks like Bangladesh is the main beneficiary," said Haque.

Haque said his group, which includes 1,500 factories, had enough orders to the end of the year, although it was still a bit worried over the long term impact of the global financial turmoil.

The Export Promotion Bureau's Ullah said Bangladesh -- now the world's second largest producer of apparel according to the International Monetary Fund -- would continue to dominate in the basic apparel sector if it scales up investment in new factories.

"Data shows we're cashing in on the new trend," he said. "But we can do more, provided our factories increase capacity and set up backward linkages such as yarn manufacturing, dyeing and washing facilities as early as possible."

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