The second International Workshop on the South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone opened in Montevideo Wednesday participated by all of its 24 member countries.

"This is an excellent opportunity to continue securing political, economic, trade and cultural relations," Uruguayan Deputy Foreign Minister Belela Herrera said in her opening speech.

"It has been a pioneer South-South cooperation mechanism," she said, adding that Uruguay, which holds the current presidency of the group of nations with an Atlantic coastline, plans to establish diplomatic ties with eight African countries in the region.

Angola's UN Ambassador Ismael Gaspar Martins was to co-chair the three-day meeting, which is expected to end with a document of recommendations for a ministerial conference in June in the Angolan capital Luanda.

Herrera praised Angola as "a successful example of political and economic reconstruction, after one of the 20th century's longest African conflicts."

The South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone was created in 1986 through a UN resolution on Brazil's initiative, with the aim of promoting cooperation in politics and other fields in the region.

(Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2007)