TPPA may not be concluded this year-- Najib

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is expected to take a longer time to be concluded than its initial year-end timeline, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

"The end of the year is very tight timeline," he said.

Najib said leaders from countries involved in the TPPA will meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bali next week to further discuss the feasibility of the timeline.

"We will have our discussions in Bali and we will have a sense of whether that timetable is feasible.

"But our sense is that it (TPPA conclusion) may take longer than the time horizon of the end of the year," he told reporters at a joint press conference with his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper here today.

TPPA, a proposed free trade agreement under negotiation by 13 countries including Malaysia, is said to be a high-standard agreement specifically aimed at emerging trade issues in the 21st Century.

Harper arrived in Malaysia on Friday for a three-day working visit and will depart for Bali today to attend the APEC summit.

It was his inaugural visit to Malaysia since taking office as Canadian Prime Minister in February 2006.