After US President-elect Donald Trump said last month he would withdraw his country from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement on his first day in office, Singapore and Japan, both members of the trade group, are joining hands to try and keep the deal alive.

During a meeting between visiting Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday, the two leaders vowed to strive for the early entry into force of the TPP even without the participation of the United States.

The duo's efforts are quixotic, for even Abe admitted last month that "the TPP is meaningless without the United States".