President Islam Karimov proposed to increase the term of the Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to five years, justifying his suggestions by the importance of the longitudinal tasks the Secretary-General is charged with.

"On the basis of the experience of many international organizations, I find it reasonable to consider the issue on the appointment of the Secretary-General for the term of five years with the following rotation from among experienced and reputed diplomats and state officials of the SCO states," the message released by the press service of the President of Uzbekistan during the SCO Summit in Bishkek said. Karimov believes that a five-year term in office would allow Secretary-General and the SCO executive bodies to "implement the tasks set before the organization more comprehensively and consistently, on the basis of the continuity of policy".

Current SCO Secretary-General – Kazakh diplomat Bolat Nurgaliev was approved for the position for the period from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2009. Prior to this, the SCO Secretariat had been headed by the Executive Secretary – the representative of China Zhang Deguang When he left the post, the position of the Executive Secretary was replaced by the post of Secretary-General.