APEC business meeting

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Business leaders from 16 Asia-Pacific economies discussed ways to come up with a unified vision of the region's future during two days of talks here which ended on Saturday.

"We want to develop a business-sector vision of the Asia- Pacific region, and to recommend to the (government) leaders ways and means for advancing the economic development of the region," the delegates said in a statement.

Singapore hosted the first meeting of the Pacific Business Forum (PBF), a temporary working group within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. The island republic is the site of the APEC secretariat.

The PBF members agreed to hold two more meetings here, in August and September, before submitting their final report to Indonesia's President Soeharto in late October.

Indonesia chairs the 17-member APEC this year. Made up of Pacific Rim nations, the group aims to promote dialogue and cooperation among members.