United States president George Bush has told business leaders at the APEC summit he is committed to getting an outline agreement on the Doha trade round before he leaves office.
Mr Bush, whose term of office ends on 20 January, said free trade has been vital in lifting incomes across the Asia-Pacific region.
Leaders from the 21 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation economies, including New Zealand, the United States, Russia, Japan and China are meeting in the Peruvian capital Lima.
The outgoing president praised the decision of Peru and Australia to join New Zealand, Brunei, Chile and Singapore in a planned free trade agreement with the United States.
Mr Bush said more countries wanted to join, and he believed the agreement would form the basis of a powerful world trading bloc in the Asia Pacific region.
He emphasised though that this should not deter APEC governments efforts to work towards an agreement in the Doha trade round which has been stalled since July.
Mr Bush vowed to press hard in his final two months in office to break the deadlock in the World Trade Organisation negotiations, a pledge made by 20 world leaders last week in Washington for a summit on the financial turmoil.
"We refuse to accept protectionism in the 21st century," Mr Bush said emphatically.
"It's true the free market system isn't perfect. It can be subject to excess and abuse," he said.
"But the verdict of history is unmistakable."
The free market "offers people the opportunity to buy and sell products as they see fit, gives people the dignity that comes from profiting from their talent and their hard work", he said
Free market
Staunchly defending his often controversial eight-year presidency as he prepares to hand over to Barack Obama, President Bush summed up his philosophy as "free markets, free trade and free people".
He urged world leaders to rely on the power of free markets to solve the global financial crisis.
"We reviewed the actions we have taken to manage the crisis and we agreed on principles and specific actions to modernise our financial structures for the 21st century and help prevent another crisis."
Despite massive job cuts and plummeting growth rates across the world, Bush predicted that capitalism would eventually be vindicated.
"Recovering from the financial crisis is going to take time, but we'll recover, and in so doing begin a new era of prosperity," he said.
While the APEC summit was expected to offer a call against protectionism, some leaders were more critical than Mr Bush of the free market system.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said oil-rich states and companies, which had reaped huge profits from sky-high energy prices, now had the duty to help solve the economic crisis and fight poverty.
"With this great wealth should also come a moral duty," Yudhoyono said.
He said while he did not agree with nationalisation, he believed that "the strong have to help the weak, and that great fortunes should also be utilised for the greater good in the spirit of compassion and human solidarity".