PORTO ALEGRE (Brazil), Jan 28: The fifth session of the World Social Forum with the slogan "another world is possible" started amidst carnival-like festivities here in this scenic Brazilian coastal city of around 1.5 million inhabitants on Thursday.

The number of participants from all over the world has already exceeded 100,000.

Started some five years ago as a response to the World Economic Forum that is held at the Swiss resort town of Davos every year since 1971, the World Social Forum provides a platform for economists and social activists to protest against the 'globalization' policies of the G-8 countries and international financial institutions led by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization.

Participants on the first day of seminars and workshops highlighted how the West had exploited globalization issues to reap a disproportionate share of benefits at the expense of an already impoverished Third World.

The highlights of the first day of formal activities included talks by Sammi Alaa, representing the Patriotic Alliance in Iraq; Roberto Freire, federal deputy of the Brazilian government, and Amalia Garcia, governor of Zacatecas, a province of Mexico, who talked about "The new challenges of the left".

The huge crowds at Porto Alegre include a number of distinguished economists, sociologists, political activists and representatives of trade unions, non-governmental organizations and citizen-based organizations.