KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 12): As Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak meets with US President Donald Trump this week, hopes have surfaced that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement may be revived.

"Hopefully Trump will change his mind (about pulling out of the TPP) now that he is a bit more politically mature," said Yong Hee Kong, senior adviser at Singapore-based ASEAN Advisory Pte Ltd of Zico Advisory.

Speaking to reporters at a symposium entitled "Retreating US, Rising China: How should we respond?" by the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), Yong noted that Malaysia still had much to gain from the agreement.

However, he opined that the TPP could be stillborn as remaining states were not interested in an agreement without the presence of the US.

Negotiations for the multinational trade agreement had stalled early this year following Trump's decision to pull the US out of the deal, leaving the remaining 11 states in a lurch.

Wan Saiful Wan Jan, CEO of IDEAS, agreed that it would be a success if Najib could convince Trump to return to negotiations on the TPP.

"I hope there will be some agreement on at least a bilateral deal between the two countries," he told reporters following the symposium.

Wan Saiful added that Najib's visit to the US was important in showing that Malaysia was not taking sides between the US and China.

"However, it is a bit unfortunate that the visit will be clouded by allegations surrounding our government as well as Trump's presidency," he said.

Najib is set to meet Trump at the White House on Tuesday, a meeting that is expected to focus on security issues while steering clear of US investigations into state-fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd, Reuters wrote.