Visiting Malaysian leader Najib Razak met Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday in Tokyo, where the pair agreed to push for the early implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

In this context, Najib told reporters that Abe's planned meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in New York on Thursday "is very much awaited by all the TPP countries."

Najib added he hopes that "the strategic importance of TPP will be recognized by the incoming administration" led by Trump.