Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been surprised with a portrait of herself as a gift from her Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

It was presented when the pair met for bilateral talks on Friday ahead of Saturday's APEC Leaders' Retreat.

It was the second gift of the day after Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg presented her with a portrait of Kate Sheppard.

Ardern has prioritised formal meetings with leaders of Trans-Pacific Partnership nations as they work closer to a final agreement.

The deal is allegedly now down to Vietnam to make the final decision.

The APEC host nation is understood to be the holdout as final talks come down to the wire.

Leaders of the remaining 11 nations will come together on Friday afternoon (local time) for a meeting in which it was hoped a final deal could be signed off.

There was a false start on Thursday night when ministers clapped and cheered, believing they'd finally reached consensus after long hours around the negotiating table.

But New Zealand Trade Minister David Parker said when the deal was presented to officials a team from one nation, which he would not name, disagreed.

"One of the parties said that they had not reached agreement and that we don't have an agreement," he said adding, that it was not New Zealand or Canada.

It's understood Vietnam, a developing nation, is seeking exemptions to labour standards in the agreement, at least in the early years.

Vietnam's labour standards are below internationally accepted levels.

The original 12-member agreement, which included the US, gave Vietnam a five- year grace period for meeting labour standards.

Leaders including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have now stepped in to work out a final agreement and all leaders will come together for talks later on Friday.

Ardern also met with Mr Abe before that meeting.

They congratulated each other on their recent election success and discussed hopes to continue their countries' strong relationship.

"In particular I'd like close formation and co-operation with you so as to maintain and strengthen a free and open order based on the rule of law in this Indo-Pacific region," Abe said.

Ardern is also scheduled to meet with the leaders of Malaysia and Singapore ahead of the TPP meeting.

- NZ Newswire