Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the ninth Meeting amongst Main Ministers on the TPP at the Prime Minister's Office.

During the meeting, discussion took place on the upcoming ministerial meeting in Singapore.

The Prime Minister said in his opening address,

"From the 7th, a TPP ministerial meeting will be held in Singapore. In March of this year, I made the decision to join the TPP negotiations based on my belief that Japan's participation in the negotiations is a 'provident masterstroke.' We are now approaching the final stages of concluding negotiations by the end of the year.
The TPP negotiations are an entirely new kind of negotiations that aim to create rules in a broad array of fields that are suited to the 21st century. Although Japan joined the negotiations late, we have been engaged in the negotiations in a nationwide effort under the leadership of Minister Amari, and Japan now has a leading role in the negotiations and discussions in a variety of fields. It is a fact that other member countries see Japan as having made a significant contribution to the advancement of the negotiations.
Difficult issues remain, including market access for goods, intellectual property, state-owned enterprises, and the environment. In the final stage of the negotiations, it is necessary to seek political solutions for the difficult issues each country faces in order to reach a balanced agreement across all fields of the negotiations.
Yesterday, I conveyed to Vice President Biden of the United States during our meeting that bilateral coordination between Japan and the United States is crucial for concluding the negotiations by the end of the year, and that to this end, Japan hopes to resolve the outstanding issues between the two countries and pave the way towards concluding the negotiations by the end of the year.
These will be very tough negotiations with each country's national interests at stake. I ask that the negotiating team work as one and make every effort to realize Japan's national interests by drawing on your negotiating skills. I would also like to ask Cabinet members to give their full support to the negotiations. Thank you for your cooperation."