Singapore PM: Negotiators very close to completing TPP talks

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said the participants in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks are "very close to completing it," according to an interview published on Monday. Lee told China's New Century magazine that the participant in the talks are trying very hard. "We ought to be able to close this year, because if we don't close this year, there is not much time left on the American political calendar to get it through Congress and settle the matter," Lee was quoted as saying. The New Century magazine is published by media group Caixin. Negotiators from the participating countries are gathering in Singapore this week ahead of a ministerial meeting on Feb. 22 to Feb. 25, following an earlier round of ministerial meeting in Singapore in December that failed to produce the ambitious free trade pact the United States pushed for. Led by the United States, the TPP talks gather 12 countries, including Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Chile, Peru, Brunei and Vietnam. The United States has been aiming for not only the abolishment of tariffs but also what is likely to bear on fair trade such as intellectual property, labor rights, environment, market access and state-owned enterprises, saying that it would be a deal of the 21st century. However, the participants have not been able to find a solution to issues such as tariffs for agricultural products such as rice, pork and beef in Japan, as well as the investor-can-sue rules. The United States has reportedly been in conflict with emerging Asian economies such as Malaysia and Vietnam, too, over how to deal with intellectual property rights as well as reform of state- owned firms, hampering the broader negotiations. Lee, in the interview, also fielded question on whether there will be a third Prime Minister Lee in Singapore. "It could be. There are many Lees in the world. I think we are the most common surname among the Chinese," he said. "But I don't think that it goes in the family." Lee, who has been prime minister since 2004, is the son of Singapore's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.