The push for a new regional free trade deal will be at the top of Prime Minister Julia Gillard's agenda when she sits down with her Asia-Pacific counterparts in Hawaii this week.
The APEC leaders' meeting in Honolulu is the second of three top-tier international summits Ms Gillard is attending this month - sandwiched between the G20 in Cannes and the East Asia Summit in Bali.
With the Doha round of world trade talks on life support and the global economic outlook still bleak, the 21 APEC leaders will focus on how to bring down trade barriers in a bid to boost growth, jobs and investment.
In particular, there is likely to be a lot of talk about a nine-country trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Five APEC nations - including Australia and the US - are seeking to join the TPP, which began its life as a relatively obscure trade deal between Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore in 2006.
After nine rounds of negotiations over the last two years hopes are high that US President and summit host Barack Obama will be able to announce agreement on a broad outline for the deal this week.
A recent report by the APEC Policy Support Unit says the TPP would cover more than $US500 billion ($A483 billion) worth of trade among its nine members.
Australia hopes the TPP will be a comprehensive trade agreement that will entice other nations - most notably the economic giants China and Japan - to join up.
Indeed, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is reportedly set to announce plans to join the TPP negotiations in the coming days.
The ultimate vision is for the TPP to serve as a building block for an APEC-wide trade deal.
This week's summit will also focus on ways to promote green growth.
Leaders will discuss ways to combat trade in illegal timber products, scrap inefficient fuel subsidies and curb greenhouse emissions.
There is speculation Ms Gillard may also make an announcement regarding the Australia-South Korea Free Trade Agreement on the summit's sidelines.
The deal is said to be close to completion after several years of negotiations.
Ms Gillard will also take part in a panel discussion about the "21st Century Workforce" at the APEC CEO Summit, which draws together top regional business leaders.
APEC finance ministers including Treasurer Wayne Swan will meet before the leaders' summit for talks on how to bolster the global recovery and boost job creation.
APEC's 21 member economies account for about 55 per cent of global gross domestic product and 43 per cent of world trade.
The APEC leaders summit runs from November 12 to 13.
