International Financial Institutions

Asia-Pacific leaders called on Oct. 25 for regional-wide free trade and other measures to reduce dependence on the United States and big Western markets as Asia leads the way out of the global economic downturn. Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama urged Asian leaders to keep up fiscal and monetary stimulus measures even as their economies show mounting signs of recovery, saying there was "no room for complacency" and that the job market was still "dire." "At the moment the global economy is showing signs of recovery, mainly in Asia," Hatoyama told the closed-door East Asia Summit of 16 Asia-Pacific leaders in the Thai town of Hua Hin, Reuters reported.