Washington  - US President Barack Obama pledged Tuesday to build stronger relations with Chile, announcing initiatives to cooperate on the development of alternative energy and science and technology.

Following his meeting with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, Obama said that Chile was key to promoting friendlier relations throughout South America as he tries to move past historical tension.

"I look to President Bachelet for good advice and good counsel, in terms of how the United States can continue to build a strong relationship with all of Latin America," Obama said.

The two countries are looking into ways to partner in the development of solar and wind power and bio-fuels, and strategies for improving health care and responding to diseases, Obama said.

"Chile has great conditions for solar energy and some others, so we are really enthusiastic about this common effort," Bachelet said.

Obama has sought to revitalize the US relationship with Latin America following years of criticism that the region was neglected by a Washington focused on the war on terrorism and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama wants to reverse perceptions that the United States is too influential in the hemisphere.

The Obama administration last month agreed to readmit Cuba to the Organization of American States (OAS), a key change sought by Latin American countries.

When asked by a reporter about widely held opinions in Latin America that the United States is too meddlesome in the affairs of its neighbours, Obama said he was focused on the future.

"I'm interesting in going forward, not looking backward," he said.

Since the US-Chile free-trade agreement went into force in 2004, bilateral trade has doubled to more than 19 billion dollars in 2008, Bachelet noted before the White House meeting.

The United States is already the top foreign investor in Chile, while Chilean exports to the US have increased by 121 per cent since 2003.

Bachelet arrived earlier Tuesday in Washington for a two-day visit with an intense political and economic agenda. (dpa)