TPP negotiations which are in the end stage are slated to be basically concluded by the end of 2013. Meanwhile, Vietnamese enterprises have not thoroughly understood about, have not kept up with and prepared readily for this agreement. To deal with this problem, WTO center-VCCI coordinated with The Saigon Times to organize: 

Vietnam is currently one of twelve countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The negotiations are in the important stage with discussions on many groups which are controversial.

As negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have resulted in near-complete texts for many of the pact’s 29 chapters, leaked texts have revealed that many of the most damaging provisions from past “free trade” agreements (FTAs) are being replicated in the TPP.

Negotiators maintained strong momentum toward achieving a high-quality and comprehensive agreement, guided by the plan of action set in April by the trade ministers from TPP parties in the margins of the APEC meeting in Surabaya, Indonesia. Parties succeeded in making progress in many chapters of the agreement, including in sanitary and phytosanitary measures, trade remedies, labour, government procurement, cross-border trade in services and legal and institutional issues.

On June 20 Malaysian Government posted on the website of Malaysia's Ministry of International Trade and Industry a Brief on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which highlights Malaysia most difficult areas in TPP: Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), State-Owned Enterprises, Labour and Environment.Download the Brief here:

In preparing for the 2nd round of Vietnam – EU FTA (EVFTA), the Ministry of Finance has conducted a public consultation from the business community on the plan to open goods market under this important agreement. On January 13th, 2013, VCCI submitted a Recommendation on Vietnam’s first tariff offer in EVFTA to the Ministry of Finance. The Recommendation emphasized:

Negotiation on services and investment market opening (negotiation on Crossborder Trade in Services and Investment Chapters) in TPP were conducted upon the ‘negative list” approach (i.e. TPP member countries shall commit to fully open their investment and service markets to investors/service providers from TPP partners except for sectors clearly listed in the non-conforming measures portfolio – hereafter referred to as NCM portfolio).

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzō Abe successfully stared down opposition from the domestic farm lobby and his own ruling party to take Japan into the TPP negotiations. The other half of the equation — gaining the consent of TPP negotiating countries to Japan’s entry — was sealed at the recent APEC ministerial meeting in Indonesia.

Japan has said it wants to join the talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade agreement currently being negotiated among 11 countries. The agreement is aimed at fostering closer ties and boosting trade in goods and services between member countries. There have been protests in Japan against the pact, amid fears that it may hurt sectors such as farming. But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that joining the group, which includes the US, is key to reviving Japan's economy.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s statement of his country’s willingness to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations is good for the U.S., Japan and the TPP. It follows former Japanese Prime Minister Noda’s announcement at the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) in 2011 of Japan’s interest in the TPP negotiations and almost two years of discussions between the Japanese government and the other TPP parties on their expectations should Japan join the trade agreement.