Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's conviction that a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact will help bring prosperity to the Asia-Pacific region is unaltered, he said on Tuesday. After US President Donald Trump pulled out of the 12-nation pact, Japan has been exploring options to revive the pact without the United States, hoping it can eventually convince Trump to reconsider.

Negotiators from the remaining 11 members have sought ways to resuscitate talks and deepen economic ties without a United States that appears increasingly suspicious of multilateral deals. Abe urged global policymakers not to view trade as a "zero-sum" game, but instead seek to remove barriers that hamper innovation from crossing borders.

"I don't think TPP is losing momentum," Abe said at a seminar hosted by the Wall Street Journal newspaper in the Japanese capital. "Japan wants to exert leadership so that we can steer the debate toward a clear direction at a ministerial meeting in Hanoi." However, Abe said he did not rule out the chance of signing a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, an option Washington favours.

Copyright Reuters, 2017