Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Leaders from 21 Pacific Rim nations will push for more trade accords when they meet this weekend, seeking to stem any turn toward protectionism amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

The heads of state from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, including U.S. President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao, will back a crisis strategy crafted by the Group of 20 nations at an emergency meeting in Washington last week. They will also focus on advancing talks on a global trade deal, known as the Doha round.

``We are certainly running out of time,'' Chilean Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley said yesterday in Lima, where APEC is gathering. ``We can make progress regarding the financial crisis if we have a Doha agreement in the next couple of months.''

With talks on a global trade deal stalled, APEC members are unveiling new bilateral agreements this week to sustain growth amid predictions of a prolonged slowdown. Peru and China announced a free trade deal on Nov. 19, while Australia and the U.S. disclosed yesterday they are planning to join a pact with four other nations to lower trade barriers.

``Now is most definitely not the time for an individual country to allow the worsening domestic economy to lead to a retreat from global trade and engagement,'' New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said today in Lima, his first trip abroad since being sworn in Nov. 19.

`Most Difficult'

The annual meeting of APEC leaders comes as the global economy continues to weaken after the Washington summit. The S&P 500 index sank to its lowest level since 1997 yesterday, with companies such as Citigroup Inc. preparing to slash tens of thousands of jobs. Japan's benchmark stock index, the Nikkei, has fallen 6.5 percent since the G-20 gathering.

``We are in the most difficult set of economic conditions we have seen since APEC was created in 1989,'' APEC foreign and trade ministers said in a joint statement yesterday. ``All APEC economies are being affected by the global financial crisis and we are likely to experience a significant fall in the high rates of regional growth seen over the past decade.''

Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Garcia Belunde warned countries against raising barriers to trade and investment in an effort to protect themselves from the financial turmoil. U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said a failure to strengthen trade ties would be a ``step backward.''

``One of the biggest risks we face is that countries may restrict markets in a misguided attempt to mitigate their pain,'' Lim Hng Kiang, Singapore's minister of trade and industry, said in a speech in Lima.

Awaiting Obama

Bush, who may be making his last foreign trip as president, will push leaders to endorse a strategy he helped develop in Washington just six days ago.

Those principles included steps to stabilize the financial system, stimulate economic growth, maintain promises of aid for developing economies battered by the crisis, strengthen the financial regulatory framework and revamp the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Uncertainty about U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's trade policies will also weigh on officials in Lima.

Obama, who takes office in January, criticized pending free- trade pacts with Colombia and South Korea during his campaign and said he would renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. As a senator, Obama supported a free- trade accord with Peru.

``The incoming president will face more political pressure for protectionism than any other chief executive since 1930,'' said Christopher Padilla, outgoing U.S. undersecretary of Commerce, in a speech to the Washington International Trade Association Nov. 13. ``How President-elect Obama responds to this pressure will define the course of the global economy, and America's economic identity, for a generation.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Shamim Adam in Lima at sadam2@bloomberg.net; Bill Faries in Lima at wfaries@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 21, 2008 15:07 EST