A Doha trade deal would be top of the agenda for the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) groups meeting in Singapore on Tuesday, Australia’s Trade Minister has said.

"We want to use the meeting to generate further momentum for the conclusion of the World Trade Organisation's Doha round of global trade negotiations and continue our work to resist protectionism and facilitate trade in the APEC region," Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said.

Trade ministers are seeking further commitment to a global trade pact to get goods flowing and spur a tentative global economic recovery.

The Doha round, launched in the Qatari capital in 2001 to help poor countries prosper through trade, has been written off many times as WTO members squabbled over calls to cut tariffs and subsidies to boost commerce in food, goods and services.

Leaders of the major economies have called for a global deal on trade by next year, but negotiators say there is little chance of that until the United States signals its position on outstanding disagreements over agriculture and other issues.

US trade representative Ron Kirk will meet his APEC counterparts from countries including China, Russia and Mexico, plus the World Trade Organisation's director-general Pascal Lamy.

Lamy estimates a Doha deal could boost the world economy by $130 billion.

"Trade stimulates growth, and what the world needs now, more than anything, is growth," Crean told business leaders in Singapore.

Singapore, also host of the APEC leaders' summit in November, is focusing its 2009 chairmanship on easing logistical barriers and helping companies survive the crisis.

In the absence of a global trade pact, countries are pushing ahead with negotiations for bilateral deals. Thailand told Reuters on Tuesday it had concluded talks with Peru for a free trade agreement that it expected to sign at the November meeting.

Emerging countries are under pressure from developed nations to open their markets, but the US has given little indication of how the Obama administration sees the talks evolving.

Kirk last week emphasised the administration's determination to enforce existing trade agreements to protect American jobs and labour standards -- a sensitive issue as workers in rich countries fear such practices can put them at a disadvantage.

The trade minister of Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, told Reuters she was cautiously optimistic for a deal.

"What we would like to see happen now is trade ministers from the capitals, the important ones, start giving direction," Mari Pangestu said in an interview.

World leaders will next look at progress in the Doha talks at a G20 summit in Pittsburgh in September. – Reuters