States President George W. Bush delivers a speech during the APEC CEO summit in Lima, capital of Peru, Nov. 22, 2008. The APEC 2008 CEO Summit kicked off in the Peruvian capital on Friday to address growth, free trade, sustainable development, APEC's relationship with the global economy and other issues. (Xinhua/Zhang Chuanqi) Photo Gallery>>>

    LIMA, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush on Saturday called on world economies to keep market open and reject protectionism to overcome the ongoing global financial storm.

    The world leaders must maintain "the power of free market," Bush said in a speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit, held in Lima, the Peruvian capital.

    The APEC meeting came at a time of "economic turmoil and unprecedented cooperation," Bush told an audience of presidents, ministers and entrepreneurs from the Asia-Pacific region, ahead of the annual APEC leaders' meeting that began Saturday.

    "As we look to the future, the tasks facing our nations are no doubt demanding ... recovering from the financial crisis is going to take time, but we will recover," Bush said.

    Rebuilding confidence is the only way to regain strength and sustain economic growth, Bush said.

    The president called for "unity and determination" among world leaders to take action to modernize financial structure, strengthen transparency and integrity of market, and enhance financial regulations and oversight.

    Rich countries and emerging economies, which have contributed increasingly to the world economy, must "sit at the same table" for dialogue, Bush said.

    The president said he does not hope to solve crisis in a two-day meeting, but expects the leaders to take initiatives that could "lay the foundation for success."

    "We can change the challenges into an opportunity for Asia-Pacific and beyond," said Bush.

    Meanwhile, Bush highlighted the U.S. efforts to promote regional economic integration. "Greater economic integration in the Asia Pacific advances the interests of all," he said, noting that earlier this year, America began discussions on a new regional free trade agreement with Brunei and Chile, New Zealand and Singapore.

    "This agreement has the potential to open up new opportunities across the region," he said.

    Meanwhile, Bush said the U.S. government will "push hard" for the conclusion of the Doha Round trade negotiations, noting that the G20 leaders pledged in Washington earlier this month to finalize modalities of the agreement by the end of the year.

    "Over 20 nations at the table, from all different kinds of backgrounds, expressed solidarity with the idea of completing Doha. And now we've got to put those words into action," he said.

    The Doha talks, which started in 2001, have been deadlocked over the past seven years and repeatedly missed deadlines. The latest setback came in July when WTO trade ministers failed to wrap up the negotiations due to disagreements between the Untied States and India over a special safeguard mechanism for agricultural products of developing countries.

    Bush arrived in Lima on Friday for the APEC leaders' meeting on Saturday and Sunday. This would be Bush's last time to attend the summit as U.S. president.

    U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday unveiled an economic plan aimed to create 2.5 million jobs by rebuilding infrastructure such as roads and bridges, as well as foster clean energy industry.

    "These aren't just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis. These are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long," Obama said in the weekly Democratic radio address.

    "There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis, which has been many years in the making, and it's likely to get worse before it gets better," said Obama, who would take office on Jan. 20, 2009.

    The financial crisis was expected to dominate the two-day APEC summit in Lima, attended by 19 leaders from the Asia-Pacific region.

    The leaders would also discuss the APEC regional economic integration, corporate social responsibility, human security, APEC institutional reform, trade and investment, structural reform, anti-corruption and transparency, economic and technical cooperation, and climate change. 

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