Vietnam, Japan PMs speak at economic forum in Hanoi

At the forum, attended by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, both sides pledged to keep trade ties alive in the wake of a promise by US President-elect Donald Trump to scrap the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership on his first day in office.

“We must create free, fair and rules-based market… we should all aim at the early entry into force of TPP,” Abe said.

Abe, who has previously said the TPP would be ‘meaningless’ without the US, added that he wants to meet the US leader “as soon as possible after he takes office” on Friday (Jan. 20).

Abe spoke to attendees at the forum as part of his two-day visit, which is his third visit to Vietnam as prime minister, aimed at boosting business ties with the fast-growing Southeast Asian nation.

His six-day swing through Asia-Pacific also took him to the Philippines, Australia and Indonesia before his final stop in Vietnam.