Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) and Japan’s Marubeni Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on strategic cooperation in Hanoi on May 10, paving the way for further trade exchange between the two countries.

Signatories were Le Tien Truong, Deputy General Director of Vinatex and Kasuhita Yabe, Head of Garment Department of Marubeni Corporation.

According to Truong, the MoU would help the group expand markets in Japan , call for investment cooperation, training and technical transfer for the sustainable development of the two countries’ garment sectors and the partner groups.

As a large and multifunctional group, Marubeni will quickly create partnerships with Vinatex member companies and branches to trade in garment products in Japan , he added.

Vinatex statistics showed that Japan was Vietnam ’s third largest garment importer, with an average growth rate of 12 percent per year.

Since the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement came into force on October 1, 2009, Japanese tariffs on Vietnam’s garment products have fallen to zero percent, creating more favourable conditions for Vietnamese garment exporters./.