The 11th prime ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) opened here Wednesday morning with a focus on strengthening cooperation in economy and cultural exchanges within the SCO framework.

The participants come from six SCO members -- China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and five SCO observer countries -- Mongolia, Pakistan, Iran, India and Afghanistan.

The meeting is expected to lay a solid foundation for the SCO's future development by implementing the results of the SCO Beijing Summit held in June.

During the one-day event, the SCO prime ministers will approve a list of measures for advancing multilateral project cooperation between 2012 and 2016 and sign a memorandum on enhancing cooperation among customs of SCO members to protect intellectual property rights.

The prime ministers are also expected to work out concrete measures to further deepen cooperation within the group in economy and culture. A joint communique will be issued at the end of the meeting.