Malaysia asks Japan's Abe to convince Trump to support TPP
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TOKYO - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak asked his Japanese counterpart on Wednesday to try to convince US President-elect Donald Trump to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement when they meet in New York this week.
Najib told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that Malaysia has cleared the way to ratify the agreement. Japan, also part of the 12-nation deal, is in the final stages of getting parliamentary approval for the necessary legislation. But US ratification is unlikely before President Barack Obama leaves office, and Trump has expressed strong opposition to the pact.
Najib urged Abe to explain the significance of the agreement to Trump when they meet Thursday.
"We hope that the TPP agreement will come into force," Najib told a joint news conference after their talks, adding that Abe's meeting with Trump is "very much awaited" by the rest of TPP participants. "Hopefully the strategic importance of TPP will be recognized by the incoming (Trump) administration as well as by all the participating countries."
