Japan, Vietnam Call for Future Expansion of TPP

Tokyo, May 31 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang said in a joint statement Thursday that a future expansion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact would benefit both countries. The TPP pact was signed by Japan, Vietnam and nine other countries in March after some changes to its earlier version, from which the United States withdrew following President Donald Trump's inauguration in January 2017. Also in the joint statement, released after their summit in Tokyo, the Japanese and Vietnamese leaders expressed concern about the current situation in the South China Sea, where China is pressing ahead with the development of military bases. The two leaders called on all related countries to refrain from any unilateral action that could complicate the situation further. The leaders welcomed recent developments concerning North Korea, including the inter-Korean summit in late April, while vowing to strengthen their cooperation to resolve promptly the issue of Japanese abductees in North Korea. In a joint press conference after the meeting, Abe said Japan is determined to promote ties with Vietnam in every field. END