MEXICO CITY, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The fourth Group of Rio National Coordinators Meeting opened here on Thursday, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

    The meeting seeks "the joint effort of member nations to update and strengthen the Permanent Mechanism for Consultation and Political Coordination", said Salvador Beltran del Rio, deputy minister for Latin American and Caribbean affairs.

    It aims to forge common positions among the member states, with the believe that the region should continue to seek consensus on the topics on the global agenda and coordination, Beltran added.

    He also welcomed Surinam to join the group, which attended the meeting for the first time.

    The meeting will discuss a report prepared by Mexico on the nation's first 18 months as the group's rotating secretary and will prepare the agenda for the 28th ministerial meeting, which will take place at the Jamaican tourist resort of Montego Bay in November.