Leaders from Asia and the Americas promised on Saturday to push for a global free trade deal and reform international lenders in an effort to keep the world from sliding into a deep recession.
US President George W Bush, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and other members of the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group, or APEC, said they would refrain from raising trade barriers over the next 12 months.
They also supported overhauls of the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, and the World Bank at a time when more countries need emergency bailouts to avert economic devastation.
"The current situation highlights the importance of ongoing financial sector reforms in our economies," the leaders said at the mid-point of a two-day summit meeting at a fortified defense compound in Peru's capital, Lima.
On his last scheduled trip abroad before handing over power to President-elect Barack Obama on January 20, Bush joined APEC peers in rejecting protectionism even if economies worsen.
The leaders committed to try to reach a breakthrough in the stalled Doha round of trade talks before the end of this year.
"It's important for us to continue to work together in this time of economic turmoil," Bush said.
Despite calls by all sides for a trade deal, disputes between the United States, the European Union, China, India and other key players have repeatedly wrecked hopes for a breakthrough during the last seven years of negotiations and it is not clear what concessions they are prepared to make now.
The APEC group accounts for more than half of global output and includes countries such as Russia, Indonesia, Australia, Canada and Mexico.
Russian officials said the threat of a major recession had forced Moscow and Washington to cooperate despite their differences, and China's Hu said leaders need to give "adequate attention to the impact of the financial crisis on the developing world and provide necessary support to relevant countries."
Japan was expected to reiterate an offer to give $100 billion to the IMF to prod other countries to chip in funds.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said big countries must do more. "There needs to be expanded support from the major economies to emerging economies that have difficulty in procuring foreign currency liquidity," he said.
Before the group met, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon blamed the United States for starting the crisis and called for better banking regulations.
"Our closest neighbor and largest trading partner is the epicenter of the financial earthquake and global slowdown," Harper said in a speech to business leaders.
Calderon said structural problems in the global economy were allowed to fester before spiraling out of control.
"This wasn't caused by developing countries," he said.
APEC members said they strongly supported recommendations that the Group of 20 leading economies made last week in Washington. Nine of APEC's members belong to the G20.
sources: http://www.independent-bangladesh.com
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