By Kenny Chee

LEADERS of the 21 Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) economies promised to pursue a "new growth paradigm" of balanced, inclusive and sustainable growth at the close of the eight-day Apec Leaders' Week yesterday.

Such a model of growth was needed to ensure lasting recovery from the recent financial crisis and future growth, said Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, summing up the discussions yesterday.

He said: "To achieve balanced growth, we will implement structural reforms to gradually unwind global imbalances and raise the potential output of our economies.

"To achieve inclusive growth, we will broaden our people's access to economic opportunities and build their resilience against economic shocks.

"To achieve sustainable growth, we will work towards an ambitious outcome in Copenhagen and ensure that efforts to mitigate climate change are consistent with our international trade obligations."

Next month, world leaders will meet in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference to negotiate, among other environmental issues, a treaty on climate change to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.

The protocol, adopted in 1997, sets limits on greenhouse- gas emissions in a bid to fight global warming. Its first phase will expire in 2012.

Apec leaders, however, did not set any targets for the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions.

They also did not decide on how to correct imbalances in currency exchange rates, despite concerns about the weak United States dollar and the strong Chinese yuan.

Wire agencies had reported that earlier draft statements had contained lines addressing these two issues directly, but that these were removed subsequently.