Lima  - The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) on Thursday called on the region's leaders to resist the "potential reactionary measures of protectionism and draconian regulation."

ABAC president Juan Francisco Raffo and other officials said at a press conference in Lima that such measures provide an "easy way out for politicians" in the face of rising unemployment and other issues with the widening of the global financial crisis.

Lima - The foreign and trade ministers of the 21 economies that make up the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum stressed Thursday the need for collaboration and rejected calls for protectionism at a time of economic crisis.

"We met during the most difficult set of economic conditions we have seen since APEC was created in 1989," the ministers noted in a joint declaration at the end of their two-day meeting in Lima.

"We will stand firm against any protectionist sentiment," they said.

Lima  - Foreign and trade ministers from the 21 economies that make up the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum held their first meeting in Lima Wednesday ahead of the weekend summit.

The ministers were to give the final touches to the agenda as well as drafts of two declarations that leaders are set to sign Sunday.

Twelve issues are to be discussed at the summit, including the state of the global economy, support for the World Trade Organization, regional economic integration, corporate social responsibility, trade liberalization and the fight against corruption.

Lima - There are many photographs of US President George W Bush and former Russian president Vladimir Putin talking, and even smiling. But only a few show them in traditional Vietnamese clothes.

Such is the original contribution that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum has made to the so often dull-looking world of diplomacy: a bit of colour, and the chance to see world leaders in a more self-conscious light.

Buenos Aires  - Latin America's free-trade advocates are usually quiet, but they are set to come to the fore this weekend at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Lima, Peru.

The three Latin American members of APEC - host Peru, Mexico and Chile - are all to the right of the louder presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela or Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil in the political spectrum.

English Services will be moving a special package in advance of the meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Lima, Peru from Friday to Sunday.

The gathering normally focusses on issues like trade and was intended to tackle food and energy security this year. While there are sure to be some light-hearted moments, as when leaders put on native costumes to pose for the APEC family portrait, the summit is increasingly expected to be overshadowed by worries over financial turmoil as the world faces a recession.