The 47th annual board meeting for the Asian Development Bank was held earlier this week in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and ADB president Takehiko Nakao presided over the opening ceremony under the slogan "The Silk Road: Connecting Asia with a Changing World."

Participants spoke about the ADB's activities and the importance of resolving social issues to achieve sustainable economic development. Discussions were held on forecasts for economic development in Asia-Pacific, new economic challenges and regional cooperation.

The heads of the delegations of 67 member states also exchanged their opinions on the ADB's future activities. The meeting brought together delegations of non-regional shareholder countries as well, including the U.S., Great Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Turkey.

Yerbolat Dosayev, the Kazakh minister of economy and budget planning, and the ADB's board chairman, announced the next meeting will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan.