BISHKEK, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) can jointly meet challenges and solve problems in the region by further carrying forward the Shanghai Spirit, a Kyrgyz political analyst has said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Azamat Temirkulov said that he was impressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech at the 19th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the SCO held last year.

Carrying forward the Shanghai Spirit is of great significance, because challenges faced by the SCO member states have become more prominent and crucial, and need to be tackled jointly, he said.

"In today's globalized world, member states must work together to address global challenges such as extremism, terrorism and separatism, as well as regional security issues including information security," he said.

Temirkulov added that he shared Xi's view on further carrying forward the Shanghai Spirit, because the spirit has become the basis for exchanges among SCO member states.

The Shanghai Spirit, as the founding values of the SCO, features mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for cultural diversity and pursuit of common development.

In 2001, the SCO came into being after Uzbekistan formally joined the Shanghai Five, which were China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan at that time. The Shanghai Spirit then became the guideline for the SCO cooperation.

The expert believes the proposal put forward by Xi on strengthening cooperation among SCO member states is very timely and meaningful as combating extremism also involves solving socio-economic problems.

"Problems such as extremism or terrorism cannot be solved if social development does not provide citizens with a decent life and a decent job," Temirkulov said.

He pointed out that the establishment of the SCO Development Bank will ensure the socio-economic development of all member states and will help combat extremism, terrorism and separatism.

Since Kyrgyzstan is an SCO member state, the establishment of such a bank is in its best interests, Temirkulov said.

As SCO member states have been forging closer trade ties, the bank is expected to boost trade in the region, he noted.

Such a bank will be one of the institutions to develop the Silk Road Economic Belt and regional trade, so "I think these proposals by President Xi are very timely, meaningful and promising," Temirkulov said. Enditem

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