DUSHANBE, August 27, 2008, Asia-Plus –  Member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) have a great potential to enhance cooperation in the fields of politics, economy, security and culture, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said in an with Chinese media last week.

"I believe the potential will be further strengthened in future," he said.

The Kyrgyz president described the SCO as an "unique and highly effective international organization."

Cooperation among the SCO members has been extended to culture, education as well as medical and health care from economy and security fields, he said, noting that the SCO has set up its Entrepreneurs'' Committee and the Bank Syndicate.

The SCO has been playing a key role in maintaining regional peace and stability and promoting prosperity and development of its member states, serving as a key pillar in the future multipolar world, he added.

He said that as terrorism cannot be solved by any country alone, the international community need to enhance cooperation in this regard.

The SCO members have joined forces in fighting the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism and transnational organized crime. The security authorities of SCO member countries have established close ties, and the SCO''s anti-terror institution based in Tashkent has achieved fruitful results, he said.

Bakiyev said during the past seven years, the SCO has completed its organizational and legal formation and further improved the mechanism for coordination and cooperation. The SCO has established mechanism for economic and trade and cultural cooperation not only within the group itself but also with other international organizations, he added.

Moreover, the SCO has demonstrated to the world its ability to address regional and international challenges and threats, the president said.

He stressed that the SCO members, big or small, strong or weak, are all equal. They maintain mutually beneficial cooperation on an equal footing. The SCO declaration, charter, and the Treaty on Long-term Good-neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation signed at the SCO summit last year in Bishkek, all embody "the Shanghai Spirit" and principle of the organization.

Kyrgyzstan highly values the SCO and is willing to safeguard the values of a multipolar world and enhance cooperation with other SCO members in economy and culture and other fields, he said.