Vietnam's Garment 10 Corporation (Garco 10), one of the oldest garment companies in Vietnam which has grown to become one of Vietnam’s foremost apparel companies based in Hanoi. Its President, Mr Giang Duc Vu, offered Tanzania the opportunity to export unspecified quantity of cotton to the giant firm.

At present the giant firm imports cotton from the United States and India but are also ready to import even from Tanzania, if Tanzania can guarantee quality and quantity supply of cotton required by them, noted Mr Giang when briefing President Jakaya Kikwete on the company's operations recently.

Garco10, with an annual capacity of 30 million units has 19 factories located in various parts of the Southeast Asian country, with the European Union, the US and Japan as its major markets .

Pierre Cardin, Burton, Ben Sherman, Zara, Van Hausen, DKNY and Camel are among the major world brands that Garco 10 does business with.

Its products cover men's shirts, pants, jackets, tops, bottoms, ladies' wear and other products. Eighty percent of the products are exported to all over the world including Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada and America.

In domestic markets , the company's own brand names such as Gate, May10, Garco 10 etc. are being known as the distinctive apparelskh.

Mr Giang assured Mr Kikwete who was on a two-day state visit to Vietnam that he could also use his influence as chairman of Vietnam Textile and Garment Association (VITAS) to guarantee Tanzanian cotton market to feed Vietnam's booming textile industry.

According to recent data, Vietnam consumes some 400,000 tonnes of cotton annually - with 35 percent of that total imported from the United States, 32 percent from India and 19 percent from South Africa.

In 2010 - 3,656,756 ring spindles and 104,348 rotors were installed in Vietnam. Total yarn production capacity was 514,000 tonnes per year, primarily for 100-per cent cotton yarn.

Domestic consumption accounted for 34.7 percent of the yarn produced. Woven fabric capacity in 2010 was 680 million square meters.

The textile and apparel industry plays a major role in increasing the country's prosperity. The Vietnamese textile industry, with more than 3,800 companies, is the leading export sector. The country ranks fifth worldwide in textile and apparel exports and has a labour force in that sector of more than 2 million people, of whom 1.3 million are working directly in the industry.

The Vice-Executive President of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Hoang Van Dung, stressed the need for the two countries to enhance trade and bilateral ties, with records indicating that last year trade turnover between them reached 105 million US dollars.

From humble beginnings since the reunification of its northern and southern regions, Vietnam has become a strong player in the global textile market.