WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A. – Chilean billionaire business mogul Sebastián Piñera has a much bigger challenge when he becomes president on March 11 than reconstructing his battered nation that’s still being rattled by aftershocks from the 8.8-magnitude earthquake last month.

His predecessor, Michelle Bachelet, certainly is a tough act to follow.

Bachelet leaves the presidency not only with the distinction of being the first woman ever to govern Chile, but with the highest approval rating in the country’s history, a whopping 84%, according to polling company Adimark GfK.

But Piñera, a staunch conservative, seems unfazed.

His experience as a highly successful businessman injects confidence into a nation that has suffered through one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded.

Adimark GfK’s latest poll reports 59% of Chileans expect Piñera to “do well” during his presidency.

But he’ll enter office with little fanfare, as numerous activities to celebrate the changing of power amidst the country’s 200 years of independence have been cancelled as Chileans recover from the earthquake and tsunami that forever changed their nation.

Piñera will become president in an austere ceremony in Valparaíso, the seat of the Chilean congress. Immediately after taking office, the new president will offer a luncheon to visiting heads of state and dignitaries, including Spain’s Prince Philip, Argentina’s Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Bolivia’s Evo Morales.

Piñera will fly to Concepción, a city that received the brunt of the earthquake, so he can access the rebuilding process that’s needed throughout the region.

During his campaign, Piñera focused a good portion of his platform on appealing to the peasants, agricultural workers and people who live in the provinces outside Santiago – and have yet to receive the riches of 20 years of center-left government rule.

“We want a change, a change for a better future,” Piñera said during his campaign during a rally in southern Chile. “[A change] especially for those on the agricultural fields, on the farms, on the countryside, who have been left behind by the [center-left coalition] Concertación.”

Piñera is expected to conclude his first day leading the country with a speech from the presidential palace in Santiago.

But not all is pomp, circumstance and mourning.

Bolivian President Evo Morales will lead a team of Bolivian government officials in a soccer match against Piñera and Chilean legislators and ministers, Bolivian daily La Prensa reported. The match, scheduled for March 10 at 6 p.m. at an undisclosed soccer stadium, will be the first meeting between the presidents.

Bolivia has been negotiating with Chile for access to the Pacific Ocean since 2006.