Chilean President Michelle Bachelet on Saturday called for closer cooperation between Asia and Latin America in the trend of globalization to achieve mutual development.

Global problems and challenges should only be solved through multilateral cooperation, she said while attending the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) 2008 Annual Conference in Boao, a coastal town in China's southernmost Hainan Province.

Bachelet said Latin American countries such as Chile and their Asian counterparts, both as emerging economies, should cooperate in many fields such as coping with global warming.

The continuous economic growth of Latin America had made great contribution to the international system; a closer relationship between Latin America and Asia would help the two sides to make further strategic progress, she added.

She said Chile had always been and would continue to be active in promoting cooperation between Latin America and Asia, particularly China.

Established in 2001, the BFA is a pan-Asian platform of dialogue for key issues affecting Asia and the whole world. The theme of this year's annual conference is "Green Asia: moving towards win-win through changes".

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2008)