Trade Minister Tim Groser acknowledges the Government "can't quite win the battle" to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) while the controversial deal remains secret.

Groser also labelled opposition to the trade agreement "completely extreme".

The government negotiator is currently in Malaysia, where New Zealand is celebrating 40 years of ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

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Groser said no further progress had been made on the TPPA since talks stalled in Hawaii last month.

His main purpose in Malaysia was talks over another free trade agreement proposed in 2012, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership involving the ASEAN members and six other countries.

"I think of it crudely as like TPP without the US, but with China," he said.

Groser said the negotiations over the "arcane" agreement were at a less mature stage than TPP.

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The Minister said the concerns being voiced in New Zealand, which have included major protests in the streets, were "completely extreme".

"We can't quite win the battle at the moment, because it's still necessarily being done in confidence, but I'm very sure in due course we'll be able to present an agreement and defend our position, and it'll be another great movement forward for New Zealand," he said.

Groser said there were similarities between TPP and the free trade agreement the country signed with ASEAN five years ago, which he said was going extremely well.

"We know these agreements work," he said. " I can't think of a single FTA that New Zealand's had in which anybody after ... has thought it was anything other than a good news story."

Groser told an audience of assembled business people and dignitaries at the 40th anniversary function that ASEAN had made unbelievable progress over that timespan.

"One could say with a hand on one's heart and a straight face, that ASEAN has been an unqualified success."

As part of the celebrations, five prominent Malaysians, all of whom undertook tertiary study in New Zealand, were presented with awards for building ties between the two countries.

Richard Meadows is in Malaysia with the assistance of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.