(VOVworld)- The Cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday approved the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, a month after the National Diet ratified the related bills.

Nobuteru Ishihara, the minister in charge of the TPP (first, left), at the ministers’ meeting in Tokyo on January 20, 2017. (Photo: Kyodo/VNA)

The moves mean Japan has completed domestic procedures for the TPP agreement. Nobuteru Ishihara, the minister in charge of the TPP, told a news conference following the meeting that Tokyo will notify New Zealand, which is designated as the Depositary of the Agreement, of the completion of Japan’s domestic procedures for the TPP.

Ishihara warned of an increase in protectionism around the world, saying Japan was determined to develop a common foundation to consolidate the free trade deal.