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

During the meeting, discussions focused on preparations for the TPP Ministerial Meeting to be held in Beijing.

The Prime Minister said in his opening address,

“On November 8th, a TPP Ministerial Meeting will be held in Beijing. This will be an important meeting for achieving an early conclusion to TPP negotiations.

The TPP agreement is the first-ever attempt in history to create a single economic zone in the Asia-Pacific region. This also involves tackling the major challenge of creating new economic rules for the 21st century covering the fields of tariffs, services, investment, intellectual properties and state-owned enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region.

We are now in the final stages of negotiations. This phase of negotiations is the most challenging. I hope that the 12 countries participating in negotiations will be able to overcome these major challenges, show flexibility, and jointly carry out work to help open up a new door in the history of the Asia-Pacific region. Japan will proactively contribute to the resolution of negotiations.

I would like Minister Amari and the negotiation team to actively take part in negotiations with the national interests of Japan always in mind. I would also like to ask relevant cabinet members to provide their full assistance as required.

I will use the APEC meetings as an opportunity to encourage the leaders of countries participating in TPP negotiations to wield their influence in making an early conclusion possible.”