ISLAMABAD -- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is focusing on strengthening economic cooperation and enhancing connectivity in the region and beyond, the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.

Commenting on the upcoming prime ministers' meeting of the SCO in Islamabad, spokesperson of Pakistan's Foreign Office Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that subjects pertaining to the economy, trade, finance, investment, trade facilitation and economic collaboration, as mentioned in Astana Declaration, will be further elaborated.

Highlighting joint building of China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as mentioned during the SCO Astana Summit, the spokesperson said that Pakistan has been supporting initiatives in the SCO that foster connectivity and establish new linkages among member states.

"Pakistan fully supports the Belt and Road Initiative, which is also an important connectivity project for the region and Pakistan. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the BRI, is critical for Pakistan's economic prosperity and development," she said.

Launched in 2013, the CPEC is a corridor linking Gwadar Port in southwest Pakistan's Balochistan province with Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which highlights energy, transport and industrial cooperation in the first phase, while in the new phase expands to the fields of agriculture and livelihood.