Special: President Hu Attends Financial Summit, APEC Meeting, Visits Four Nations 

    LIMA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Peruvian President Alan Garcia on Friday called for regaining confidence amid the international financial crisis.

    "My first appeal is to restore confidence ... restoring confidence in ourselves," Garcia said in a speech at the opening session of the 2008 CEO Summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which was held at the Convention Center of the Peruvian Defense Ministry.

    Such confidence comes from thinking about the medium and long-term prospect for the world economy, he said.

    "I am optimistic about the situation, because it is the birth of a new economy and a different society," he said.

    He noted that this time's situation, which is "absolutely" different from the two financial crises in 1929-1933 and the 1970s, is a crisis "that we have to do with optimism."

    "This is a wealth crisis and a system expansion crisis and it should not be treated with statism or protectionism," he said.

    "I claim that the world is not sick but is rather suffering from growing pains," he said. Garcia listed such factors for the optimism as technology innovation's increasingly contribution to the world economy and the great potential still enjoyed by the global consumption market.

    "We need to see the human capacity and financial resources, technologies, market creativity and speed of communications," he said.

    Some 1,200 participants were expected to attend the two-day event, part of the APEC Leaders' Week on Nov. 16-23.

    Chinese President Hu Jintao will deliver a key-note speech entitled "China's Quest for Sustainable Development" during the first day of the gathering.

    U.S. President George W. Bush, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper are also expected to address the summit.