Santiago, April 11, (RHC), -- Chile is giving priority to Latin American integration through a variety of recently forged alliances and agencies, a government spokesman said on Thursday.

The integration bears global significance as it could "best resolve the conflicts that can arise in different parts of the planet," spokesman, Alvaro Elizalde, told a gathering of foreign correspondents in the capital Santiago.` As for its ties with Asia-Pacific, the biggest buyer of Chile's exports, Elizalde said the new government headed by President Michelle Bachelet plans to make them strong but flexible.

Chile's biggest exports go to the Asia-Pacific, but that doesn't hinder the integration process in Latin America, he said.

"A coordinated Latin America carries greater weight in the world and we are going to continue with a policy of integration in that area," he added.

Bachelet's government program sets the objective of strengthening ties with its South American neighbors, which deteriorated during the previous conservative administration.

Bachelet will be traveling to Argentina next week, on her first official visit abroad since she took office on March 11.