The 17th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit will open in Singapore on Saturday. Leaders from 21 countries are participating.

Ahead of the summit gathering, President Lee Myung-bak held summit talks with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and discussed ways to advance bilateral relations.

The two leaders also agreed to work together to expand significant progress that was made at the G20 summit. They also agreed to cooperate in making joint strategies toward ending low-interest policies as the world economy is recovering.

Earlier on Friday, Lee held summit talks with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. They agreed that the APEC summit should provide an opportunity for the international community to further cooperate in deterring protective trade.

Lee is scheduled to unveil the results of the summit’s first session with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper later in the day.

Lee is also expected to stress on Saturday that the G20 and the APEC should work closely together in order to tackle the global financial crisis.