MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bachelet opens Latam-European social forum in Chile

The Inauguration Of The Eighth Biarritz Forum

President Michelle Bachelet opened the 8th annual Biarritz Forum Monday with a speech urging unity across Chile's social and political sectors. The President welcomed business leaders and government officials from across Latin America and Europe to the annual conference, held this year at the Casa de Piedra in Santiago's Vitacura borough.

"We recognize a common goal: It is necessary to build a fairer, more equitable Chile, and to do this we must transform our labor relations, we must establish a new social pact" said Bachelet. The President's words echoed her recent calls for greater cooperation in confronting the nation's challenges, including the need to ensure fair working conditions and just salaries while remaining competitive in the global economy. Bachelet received an affectionate applause from the roughly 400 people gathered at the inaugural ceremony, and most of the crowd joined her in singing along to a pre-recorded 80's style version of Chile's national anthem. That was followed by a rendition of the Marseillaise, in honor of the French city of Biarritz, where the meeting was first held and returns every other year. Chile's president was joined on stage by former presidents Eduardo Frei and Patricio Aylwin, and Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley, among other dignitaries. Aylwin used his time as the first speaker at the conference to reach out to the European representatives, mostly coming from France and Spain. "Social injustice, economic growth, health and education of our peoples are topics that concern all Latin American governments. Here, today, Europe has a chance to get to know Chile and the other countries who share Chile's crazy geography," stated Aylwin. Chile's first democratically elected president after the Pinochet regime, Aylwin helped found the Biarritz Forum in 2000. The purpose of the yearly meeting is foster dialogue between Europe and Latin America on the political and economic issues affecting relations between the regions. This year's forum focuses on Social Cohesion and Corporate Responsibility and for the first time will include labor groups among its participants The forum will feature a series of debates and workshops for two days, bringing together 180 panelists and 350 guests from around the world. By Anne Pallisgaard and Teddy Kahn The Santiago Times