GUAM – Trade negotiators for the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement in Guam are now focusing on intellectual property issues, which appear likely to be the last hurdle to concluding the talks. Chief negotiators from Japan, the United States and 10 other countries engaged in the negotiations were working Saturday to narrow down the issues that should be left to high-level political decisions, with a view to reaching a broad agreement at the next ministerial meeting, expected to be held next month or later.

The United States is optimistic a deal to set up a free trade zone across the Pacific will be concluded soon, with sensitive issues likely to be ironed out when its Congress resumes sessions, the top U.S. trade official said on Sunday. "We are very much in the end-game," U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told reporters after a two-day trade ministers' meeting on the Philippine island of Boracay.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Trade ministers from 21 Asia-Pacific countries on Sunday issued strong support to the World Trade Organization's efforts to boost global trade amid a flurry of regional free trade agreements. The ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation grouping of nations vowed at the end of their two-day meeting on the central Philippine resort island of Boracay to ratify by December a landmark trade facilitation deal and to contribute to a work program to conclude the much-delayed Doha round of trade negotiations.

As the ASEAN Economic Community’s (AEC) December 2015 deadline approaches, most observers feel that the initiative’s deliverables — an integrated production space with free movement of goods, services, and skilled labour — will not be achieved. This may be true. But the AEC should be seen as a work in progress. To simply say it will miss its deadline is to ignore other crucial facts about the AEC’s role and circumstances.

BORACAY, Philippines—Mexico is set to conclude talks on a 12-member Pacific trade bloc and says the U.S. Senate’s push to pass a key bill this week suggests the endgame is near. “Mexico is ready to wrap up negotiations” for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told The Wall Street Journal Saturday by phone from Mexico.

Why Vietnam has higher relevance The inclusion of Vietnam in the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) is particularly important for firms in the footwear and apparel (XRT) (XLY) industries. About 11.6% of the total US apparel imports are sourced from Vietnam. After China, it’s the second largest apparel and footwear exporter to the US.

(VOV) – Vietnam signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Republic of Korea (RoK) earlier this month which is expected to boost its exports to the RoK market and more than double bilateral trade over the next five years. At a conference on May 22 sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) in HCM City representatives of the ministry said the FTA could see Vietnam and the RoK’s annual trade reach US$70 billion by 2020.

Unless the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks are concluded soon, they risk dragging on interminably. If that happens, the United States’ capacity to function as a benign world hegemon will be diminished. To avoid this, the White House is determined to get the pact signed and ratified by the end of 2015. This means persuading the US Congress to approve the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) in June and its TPP negotiating partners to sign a deal just few weeks later.

The Viet Nam - South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed on May 5 is expected to bring positive effects to many of the countries’ economic fields. The FTA will create new opportunities for cooperation, but, more importantly, for Viet Nam it will further develop the fundamentals of their business environment and social resources.

Vietnam is ready to work with other countries involved in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiation towards its early conclusion, Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry Le Hai Binh said in a regular press conference on May 21. Replying a query on the possibility of wrapping up the negotiations and signing the agreement within this year, Binh said Vietnam will follow the principle of fairness with regard to mutual benefits and respect to interests of the TPP member countries.