Highlighting the modern Silk Road's cultural importance will help pave the way for people to better understand the initiative and its direction, specialists said at the Silk Road International Cultural Forum held in the Kazakh capital Astana last week.

The forum attracted more than 100 delegates, specialists, scholars and decision-makers, as well as representatives from various enterprises from China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

According to the Astana Consensus reached at the two-day forum, cooperation will be a major focus of the countries and organizations involved in the Silk Road, but getting the public to appreciate just how beneficial it will be is also a prime goal.