Representatives from 11 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) member countries are expected to meet in Hakone town, west of Tokyo, Japan on July 12.

Photo for illustration

The three-day meeting follows a breakthrough last week on a Japan-European Union trade deal reached after four years of negotiation, which marks a great advance in free trade in the context of the US pulling back from the TPP.

Other TPP members hope to make progress on an alternative that does not include the US called “TPP 11” or “TPP 12-1” before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting in Vietnam in November.

The TPP was signed in February 2016 by Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam -- covering around 40 percent of the global economy.

However, US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the world's biggest economy from the TPP soon after taking office in January 2017./.

VNF/VNA