For about half an hour APEC leaders talked among themselves in the presence only of interpreters. They were then joined by the members of the APEC Business Advisory Council, which develops recommendations on economic cooperation for government bodies.
One of the issues discussed was the state of the World Trade Organization after the Cancun round of talks and the implementation of the Doha Development Programme.
Mr Putin thanked the APEC leaders for their support of Russia’s accession to the WTO noting that during the course of the negotiations Russia was sometimes presented with excessive demands that went beyond the rules of the organisation.
The President called on the participants in the forum to join their efforts in the fight against protectionism in trade and other restrictive measures. He noted that both new and old protectionism triggered a chain reaction that limited competition and harmed developing countries.
On the first day of the summit Mr Putin had brief talks with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, US President George W. Bush, Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo Manrique and the Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark.