Danang (Vietnam), Nov 11 (EFE). - The Forum of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) called for maintaining growth and strengthening the region's integration at the end of the summit today. held in Danang (Vietnam) and marked by the United States rejection of multilateralism.

The leaders of the 21 economies launched a message in favor of inclusive growth and sustainable, the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises and the improvement of food security and agricultural sustainability to cope with climate change.

"We have the determination to build a peaceful, stable, interconnected and dynamic region in Asia Pacific that has people and business at its center, "said the president of Vietnam, Tran Dai Quang, to the press once the meeting is closed.

In addition to Vietnam, APEC integrates Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, South Korea, the US, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, Singapore, Taipei and Thailand.

The Vietnamese president's message eluded references to the US discrepancies. introduced in the group by the commitment that its president, Donald Trump, expressed in the forum in favor of bilateralism.

The influence of the US, the world's largest economy and APEC, It was noted in the joint statement that the leaders of the group issued at the end of the meeting with the defense of a trade "non-discriminatory, reciprocal and mutually advantageous" that puts end to "unfair business practices."

"We urgently call for the elimination of subsidies and other types of aid from governments and related entities that distort the market," said the statement.

These arguments coincide with those exposed on Friday by Trump in his speech, in which he attacked broad agreements and countries that violate rules, and He assured that from now on the USA will only look for "fair and reciprocal" treaties.

The agreed text looked for the balance between the traditional language of the forum and the position expressed by the US president with a statement in favor of "a multilateral trading system based on rules, free, open, fair, transparent and inclusive".

"We note the importance of bilateral, regional and multilateral agreements, and we are committed to working to ensure that these complement multilateral trade agreements, "said the document.

He also called for improving the functioning and implementing the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), an institution that Trump accused of treating unfairly. to the US.

The summit ended with the adoption of the Danang Declaration, which aims to create "a new dynamism", the slogan that Vietnam chose for the meeting, and promote growth inclusive and regional integration with a series of actions.

Among them are an agenda to advance economic, financial and social inclusion in the region, and another for favor the development of human resources in the face of the digital revolution with special emphasis on the empowerment of education.

The three Latin American countries members of APEC, for their part, they took advantage of the summit to reinforce the commercial ties with other members of the forum.

Thus, the meeting served Peru to complete the negotiations of a treaty of free trade with Australia, while Mexico held bilateral meetings with Canada, Japan and Vietnam.

"APEC is a space that not only allows us to take agreements to promote development and prosperity but it facilitates the bilateral relationship with APEC heads of state, "said Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.

Chile, who worked in preparation for Danang of the 2019 edition, which will be hosted after Papua New Guinea in 2018, came to an agreement to expand the free trade agreement that it has with China.

The end of the summit coincided with the publication of a joint statement by Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which both confirm their decision to defeat the Islamic State (EI) in Syria.

APEC, founded in 1989, represents 59% of world GDP, 49% of global trade, forms a market of some 2,850 million consumers and has as its objective to establish a free trade zone among the 21 member economies in 2020.