Obama opens Asia-Pacific summit in Hawaii

US President Barack Obama. AP photo

HONOLULU—US President Barack Obama opened a summit of 21 Pacific Rim economies on Sunday, urging the region to work for quicker, more sturdy and more sustainable economic growth.

Obama, hosting the summit in his native state of Hawaii, said the people of the Asia-Pacific region wanted their leaders to work toward growth at a time of global economic peril.

“Today we have got a chance to make progress towards our ultimate goal which is a seamless regional economy,” Obama said at the start of talks, the day after he announced the framework for a trans-Pacific trade deal.

“We will be discussing how we can work together to spur on quicker economic growth and more sturdy and sustainable economic growth,” Obama said.

“I want to emphasize that the Asia-Pacific region is absolutely critical to America’s economic growth.

“We consider it a top priority. And we consider it a top priority because we’re not going to be able to put our folks back to work and grow our economy and expand opportunity unless the Asia-Pacific region is also successful.”

Ahead of the summit, Japan on Friday boosted the nascent Trans-Pacific Partnership by announcing it would join talks on what could become the world’s biggest free trade area.

But Obama, who has dubbed himself America’s first Pacific president, balanced his calls for regional unity with a challenge to emerging economic superpower China to sign up to developed world trade standards.