Leaders from Asia and the Americas promised 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 and the World Bank at a time when more countries need emergency bailouts to avert devastating economic turmoil.
‘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 defence compound in Peru's capital, Lima.
On his last scheduled trip abroad before handing over power to President-elect Barack Obama on 20 January, Mr Bush joined his APEC peers in rejecting protectionism as an option if economies worsen.
The leaders also committed to a breakthrough in the stalled Doha round of trade talks before the end of this year.
The APEC group accounts for more than half of global output and includes countries such as Russia, Indonesia, Australia, Canada and Mexico.
