The member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) agreed on Thursday to set up a working panel specialized in promoting regional energy and telecommunications cooperation.

The decision was made at a trade ministers' meeting in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent on Thursday.

The annual meeting reviewed the regional economic cooperation since the meeting last year and the prospects of trade and investment cooperation within the region.

The ministers also exchanged views on the implementation of an earlier signed multilateral economic and trade cooperation guideline, and talked about the legal basis for the SCO Entrepreneurs' Committee and the SCO banks consortium.

They also discussed preparations for the SCO prime ministers' meeting due on Sept. 15 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

The SCO, founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001, groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Last year, the six countries reported a total trade volume of US$37.7 billion, more than double the amount in 2001 when the SCO was founded.

(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2006)