TOKYO (Sputnik) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed Monday to press the parliament into ratifying the controversial free trade deal with the United States and ten other Pacific Rim nations.
"Japan needs to urgently ratify the TPP agreement in the parliament. I plan to make every effort to achieve that because its prompt ratification by the Japanese parliament will be the first step toward building this partnership," Abe said on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
Speaking at the Hangzhou economic summit, the Japanese prime minister referred to the TPP pact as key to strategic economic development and lauded the advent of a "free, open economy."
China, which hosted this year’s summit of the world’s 20 major economies devoted to building an "inclusive world economy," is not part of the agreement.
