"APEC should... return to its original purpose as an instrument for promoting economic growth through fostering freer, and fairer, flow of trade," Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

"Its assumption of some security role following the September 11 attacks in the United States has compromised its original purpose and blurred its focus," Abdullah said in a speech to business leaders at the meeting in Vietnam.

"Security, after all, is the express concern of the ARF," said the premier, referring to the ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia's top security meet since 1994.

The 21-member APEC, launched in 1989, has been working to free up trade and investment in the region by 2010 for developed economies and by 2020 for developing ones.

But since the September 11, 2001 attacks, its scope has broadened to include security and terrorism and health concerns such as the spread of the deadly avian flu virus.

The APEC summit in Hanoi is focused on trade issues, but the forum, which includes the United States, Japan, China, Russia and South Korea, has also been preoccupied with talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

Abdullah said it was an "urgent" priority for APEC to become "more relevant to the needs and aspirations of all member economies and not just a few."

"Common purpose can only evolve from a sense of shared ownership, and this will only exist when the APEC agenda serves the interests of all members as much as possible," he said.

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