Mexico and the United States will reach an agreement that "will be fair to both parties," Michael Milken, chairman of think tank the Milken Institute, said on Thursday.

Milken, who was speaking to CNBC's Oriel Morrison at the 2018 Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore, said: "Mexico is extremely important to the United States, the United States to Mexico. And therefore, all the words, all the rhetoric for the last year and a half, will be put to bed."

The U.S. and Mexico struck a trade deal last month that paved the way to replace North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the current agreement between the two nations and Canada.

However, the White House would need to ask Congress separately to approve a bilateral track, and once an agreement is reached, it would need to notify Congress again of its intention to send the deal to Capitol Hill for a vote. That process would take 180 days at a minimum.

Negotiations on a deal between the U.S and Canada are still ongoing, and Mexico has said it is keen on Canada joining the agreement to make it trilateral. But it would be ready to pursue a bilateral agreement with the U.S. if talks between Ottawa and Washington do not work out, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Wednesday.