Tony Abbott's hopes of signing a series of bilateral free trade agreements with some countries within a year may not be as unrealistic as first thought, with at least Japan privately keen to get the jump on its Asian competitors.

Japanese high-technology manufacturers are petitioning their government to wrap up the talks that have dragged on since 2007, to give them the best chance of increasing market share in Australia in everything from Japanese cars to cameras and televisions.

Hopeful: Tony Abbott. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Canberra is now in accelerated talks with Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo to finalise country-to-country trade agreements given the apparent hopelessness of World Trade Organisation talks aimed at multilateral arrangements.