Ikram Adyrbekov said a series of agreements had been signed since 2007 to tackle issues like terrorism, separatism, extremism and drug trafficking.

At the annual summit in August last year, the SCO reached a consensus at Dushanbe to expand cooperation on defense and security, including the organisation and staging of joint counter-terrorism exercises.

SCO cooperation was also focusing on finance, culture and environmental protection, which Adyrbekov said would boost living standards and public welfare.

He called for more concrete cooperation in energy, transport, agriculture, trade and high technologies to cope with the economic downturn.

The SCO, a regional organization founded in 2001 in Shanghai, comprises China, Russia and the central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The regional organization also has Mongolia, India, Pakistan and Iran as observers.

The ninth SCO annual summit will be held next week in Russia. Leaders are expected to discuss measures on tackling the economic downturn as well as expanding economic cooperation.