WASHINGTON - US SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) ministerial meeting later this month in Singapore, senior official Kurt Tong said on Tuesday.

The United States will have a high-level presence at 'the annual ministerial meeting which is a meeting of both Secretary Clinton and US chair (Ron) Kirk and their counterparts from the other 20 economies,' Mr Tong told reporters. Mr Kirk is the US trade representative.

The ministerial meeting is scheduled for November 11-12, ahead of the Apec summit, at which President Barack Obama will make his inaugural appearance. Apec finance ministers will also hold meetings that week.

Tong, the State Department's pointman on Apec, said the various Apec meetings will focus on 'economic recovery' following the massive global slowdown.

The participants will also discuss the theme of 'resisting protectionism,' a major topic of the summit in the September G-20 summit of Pittsburg as well as regional economic integration, Mr Tong said.

He added that they will also seek to 'reinforce the G-20's pledge to establish a pattern of global growth that is more balanced by region and less prone to destabilizing booms and busts.' -- AFP