SINGAPORE: As chair of this year's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, Singapore hopes to lay the foundation for member economies to emerge stronger as the world climbs out of the global recession.

Speaking exclusively to MediaCorp ahead of the APEC Ministers' Meeting on Wednesday, Singapore's Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said as a group, APEC needs to deal with immediate post crisis management issues, as well as longer term challenges.

Immediate issues to tackle include how economies can successfully exit from the various stimulus packages in place and ensure growth is balanced, so there is no major dislocation to savings and surpluses.

Mr Lim added that unemployment will also remain high for most economies, so fighting protectionist trade policies will remain a key issue.

In the long term, he said the focus is in ensuring inclusive and sustainable growth for the world.

"So what we do this year, we hope will be followed up by Japan... and the US (as) chair. That will give us a good run to deal with the challenges over the longer term," said Mr Lim.


- CNA/so