Trade ministers of Japan and Singapore on Wednesday pledged to maintain the high standards of market access and rules of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal, which China and Taiwan made a bid to join last year, Japan's government said.
In a joint statement, trade minister Koichi Hagiuda and his Singaporean counterpart Gan Kim Yong confirmed their countries' commitment to "building a free and fair rules-based trading system including through maintaining" the high standards of the deal, according to Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Japan and Singapore are part of the 11-member TPP, formally known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Singapore chairs the TPP Commission, the bloc's decision-making body, this year, following Japan's stint in 2021.