Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (L), Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (2nd L), Chile President Michelle Bachelet and Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang pose with APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Business Leaders at a meeting in the Istana during the APEC Summit in Singapore (11/14). (REUTERS/Pablo Sanchez)

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Singapore (ANTARA News) - Leaders from the Asia-Pacific Eonomic Cooperation (APEC) agreed to make a joint declaration Sunday on the need for balanced, inclusive and sustainable growth in the region and resisting protectionism and accelerating intetgration of its economics.

In the declaration, the 21 leaders of APEC members have agreed to cooperate in strengthening momentum towards a strong, sustainable and balanced global economic growth.

The commitment is similar to those agreed in the last G20 meeting in Pittsburg, United States.

APEC leaders realized the importance to build a new paradigm after the global economic crisis hit the world. Awareness to expand their trading and investment agenda was also called for which will strengthen Regional Economic Integration (REI) in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We cannot witness growth as it was usually made. Next year we will implement a sustainable and comprehensive strategy which will support a more balanced, inclusive, environmentally-oriented economic growth.

We will also find a way to upgrade the growth potential through investment and knowledge," the declaration said.

In Sunday`s declaration, APEC leaders came to agree about 10 topics, namely to support a balanced economic growth, stand for an exclusive economic growth, promote sustainable economic growth and reject protectionism.

Other commitments are supporting multilateral trading system, creating a Regional Economic Integration, strengthening technical and economic cooperation, boosting civil security, fighting corruption, upgrading good government and transparency while strengthening relations among the APEC members.

The idea of APEC was first publicly put forward by former Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Bob Hawke, in a speech in Seoul, South Korea in January 1989. Later that year, 12 Asia-Pacific economies met in Canberra, Australia, to establish APEC.

The founding members were: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and the United States.

China, Hong Kong, and Chinese Taipei joined in 1991. Mexico and Papua New Guinea followed in 1993. Chile acceded in 1994. And in 1998, Peru, Russia and Viet Nam joined, taking the full membership to 21.(*)

Editor: Ruslan Burhani
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