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.

APEC refers to itself as having 21 member economies rather than member countries because it includes the Chinese territory of Hong Kong and also Taiwan, which China sees as its breakaway province. For the same reason, its summits bring together "leaders" rather than the more usual heads of state or government.

The group's 19 other members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

The Asia-Pacific region represents an estimated 49 per cent of world trade and 55 per cent of the global gross domestic product, according to APEC, and the organization stresses a clear "commitment to open trade, investment and economic reform." (dpa)