WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States held high-level talks here Monday on Seoul's interest in potentially joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a U.S.-led multilateral trade agreement, officials said.

As the year draws to a close, EFF is looking back at the major trends influencing digital rights in 2013 and discussing where we are in the fight for free expression, innovation,

TOKYO —The Japanese government is hoping that Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade negotiations will conclude with an agreement in February.

Malaysia has ruled out any American “pressure” in the negotiating process in the much controversial Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement as all economies are pressuring each other to agree on certain clauses according to respective law and norms.

FOR the first time since it came into existence in 1995, the World Trade Organisation last month achieved a breakthrough, reaching a series of agreements to streamline trade that are expected to boost the world economy by up to a US$1 trillion (RM3.28 trillion) a year.

The TPP Ministerial Meeting was held in Singapore from 7th-10th December 2013. The aim of the Ministerial Meeting was to take stock of the progress made in the negotiations since the Bali Leaders Meeting in October 2013 and to provide guidance on appropriate compromises to enable negotiators to overcome the remaining outstanding issues in the various Chapters. Leaders in Bali decided to conclude the TPP negotiations by year end. This has been proven to be impossible to achieve.

The next ministerial meeting for Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations will likely be postponed to February 2014 from the initially planned January, informed sources said.

Since 2010, the United States has been negotiating a secret trade deal, the Trans Pacific Partnership. If approved by Congress, this pact between the U.S. and 11 or 12 of America's Pacific Rim trade-partners would govern 40 percent of U.S. imports and exports.

The Dec. 10 adjournment of minister-level talks in Singapore on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade scheme means that the negotiations will not conclude by the yearend deadline set by leaders of the 12 participating countries at their October meeting in Bali. Although Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is eager to conclude the TPP talks as soon as possible, an early conclusion should not become Japan’s goal. There is the risk that trying to hurry a deal will result in sacrificing important national interests.

Negotiators had hoped to finalise what could be the world's biggest free trade agreement by the end of 2013. But a number of issues remain and talks on the so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement will resume in 2014. And in Australia, at least, there have been growing calls for the talks to be more transparent, with fears the agreement could have some negative implications. Ildi Amon reports. Negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement involve 12 countries which account for up to 40 per cent of the world's GDP.