Finance ministers from 21 Pacific Rim economies expressed determination Sunday to join forces to steer the region away from a looming global recession and toward lasting prosperity.
A joint statement issued after the two-day talks of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum painted a bleak picture of the global outlook as the world's three big economies -- the United States, Japan and Europe -- are simultaneously experiencing downturns.
"Reflecting this, most economies in the APEC region have experienced an economic downturn, with a slowdown in the IT (information technology) sector, weaker financial market performance and, for many developing economies, reduced capital inflow and foreign direct investment," it said.
The statement pointed to the need for each APEC member to conduct sound macroeconomic policy management to help prevent slowing world growth from turning into a much-feared global recession.