BOAO /China/, March 28. /TASS/. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has developed good potential for expanding and deepening cooperation in its area of responsibility, Secretary General Zhang Ming told TASS on Tuesday.

"The SCO has developed substantial economic and investment potential, which contributes to improving trade and economic cooperation in the area of the organization’s responsibility," he said during the Boao Forum for Asia in the Hainan province.

"Amid mounting global turmoil and uncertainty at the current stage of world development, regional organizations are coming to the fore," the official noted. "With this in mind, the SCO’s role as an efficient multilateral mechanism in the development of economic ties between the region’s countries will only grow," he said.

The organization is developing various projects in the area of finance, transportation, energy and industry, agriculture and e-commerce on the basis of relevant mechanisms, Zhang Ming stated. "The gradual formation of the legal basis for consistent deepening of economic partnership in the SCO is underway," he added.

The expansion and deepening of cooperation in those areas "are among the top priorities in the activities of the organization, meeting the interests of sustainable socio-economic development in its space," the Secretary General emphasized. "To provide financial support for project activities, as well as to fully unlock the investment potential of the organization, the possibility of creating the SCO Development Bank and the SCO Development Fund (Special account) is under consideration," he concluded.