ULAN BATOR, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will certainly grow into an effective platform for cooperation in the Asian region, according to a senior Mongolian official.

　　Expressing confidence about the broad prospect of the SCO, Samdan Enkhtsetseg, chief of the presidential press office, said that the economy in the SCO member countries, China and Russia in particular, has been enjoying a rapid development.

　　The SCO is becoming more and more active and its prestige is growing on the international arena, he said.

　　Mongolia hopes that the 2006 SCO summit, which is to be held in Shanghai on Thursday, will help promote cooperation and dialogue between the SCO members states and observer countries, he said.

　　Established on June 15, 2001, the SCO groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, with Mongolia as one of the four observer countries. Enditem