Eight countries in the Asia-Pacific region and the United States aim to reach outlines of a trade agreement by next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Honolulu, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is keeping up the pressure to reach a deal.

Chamber President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue urged world leaders Wednesday to advance an aggressive trade agenda centered on an Asia-Pacific regional trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership being negotiated by the United States, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

"It’s time to commit to an aggressive new trade and investment agenda," Donohue said during a forum in Washington, D.C., with U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, FedEx Express Chief Operating Officer Michael Ducker and National Center for APEC President Monica Whaley. "It’s time to think big. It’s time to be bold. It’s not time to rest on our laurels."

Donohue is pressing for an Asia-Pacific trade agreement after recent congressional passage of trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. The Chamber president will lead a business delegation at the upcoming APEC summit in Honolulu.

The Chamber said the Asia-Pacific region boasts the fastest-growing economies in the world while the U.S. share of trade in the region has declined by 9 percent since 1990 as Asian nations have negotiated trade agreements among themselves.

"We want an agreement completed as soon as possible," Donohue said. "But this must be an agreement with high standards. These standards will set the bar on regulatory coherence, investment and intellectual property. And we want an agreement that is open to expansion to more countries that are willing to commit to these high standards."