Donald Trump's election as US president and his protectionist policies are expected to be key talking points at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, but Mr Turnbull insists APEC needs to stay the course on free trade.
Mr Turnbull arrived in Lima for the APEC leaders summit on Friday morning local time and is expected to have bilateral talks with outgoing President Barack Obama in coming days.
"I certainly look forward to seeing the president-elect (Mr Trump) whether it is prior to his inauguration or certainly afterwards," Mr Turnbull told reporters in Lima, adding that Mr Trump had a very busy schedule.
The pair had discussed having an early meeting, during a phone call conversation in which Mr Turnbull had congratulated him on his election victory.
"It hasn't been possible to schedule one on the way to (APEC) and certainly not on the way back because I'll already be missing a day of parliament, and that's one day enough if not one day too many," Mr Turnbull said.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the first foreign leader to meet with Mr Trump.
Both Japan and South Korea were left reeling after Mr Trump vowed during the election campaign to pull out US troops from bases in Asia unless they stumped up more cash for security.
Japanese business leaders are also wary of Trump's protectionist stance after he promised to reduce imports into the US and support more manufacturing at home.
After the meeting on Thursday at Trump Towers in New York, Mr Abe said the president-elect was a leader he could trust.
"I renewed my conviction that, together with Mr Trump, I will be able to build a personal relationship of trust," Mr Abe told reporters following the 90-minute meeting at Trump's gilded Manhattan penthouse.
Peru president, APEC host, warns of threats to free trade
The US presidential election is a sign of growing hostility to free trade that threatens the global economy, the president of Peru warned Friday as he opened an Asian-Pacific summit hosted by his nation.
President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski told delegates gathering in Lima for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum that global trade already stopped growing in the last two years and would get much worse if nations close off their economies.
"It is fundamental that world trade grow again and that protectionism be defeated," Kuczynski said.
The Peruvian leader cited the U.S. election, though he did not specifically mention President-elect Donald Trump, who pledged to overhaul U.S. trade policy and tear up trade agreements such as NAFTA or the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Kuczynski, a U.S.-trained economist and former investment fund manager who took office this year, also cited the vote in June by Britain to leave the European Union as evidence that "protectionist tendencies are taking over" in the world.
"And for anyone who wants to promote protection I suggest they read an economic history of the 1930s," he said, a reference to the Great Depression that many argue was aggravated by protectionist policies.
Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, also touched on the U.S. and British elections as she called for action to address rising economic inequality that has accompanied increased global trade.
"The social and political consequences are now becoming all too apparent," she told an audience at the Universidad del Pacifico after an appearance at APEC.
"Voters in the United States and the United Kingdom, for example, have sent clear signals of concern about migration, trade and technological change."
APEC has brought more than 1,000 delegates from 21 countries, representing nearly 40 percent of the world's population, to Lima for a forum aimed at easing global commerce. U.S. President Barack Obama was expected to arrive late Friday for his last international summit before leaving office in January. Also expected were Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Obama had been expected to promote the TPP, which would have included 12 members of APEC but not China. That trade pact is now considered politically dead because of Trump's victory. The Chinese president is expected to seek support for an alternate agreement backed by his country that would include all 21 countries in the organization.
APEC ministers, meeting ahead of the leaders' summit, endorsed a study of the Chinese-backed plan and called for further talks in a joint statement issued Friday that also echoed concerns about protectionism. "Faced with rising skepticism over trade and stagnated trade growth, we reiterate our commitment to build an open economy in the Asia-Pacific," it said.
