Luanda — The deputy minister of Culture, Cornélio Calei, Friday in Luanda said that the country's cultural agents should engage more and more and give a major boost and quality to the National Culture and Arts Award which he considered as a contest of "excellence".

"I think that we, Culture workers, are in a position to be the messengers and the first actors to work hard for the award to deserve its place in the history of our people," he said.

The deputy minister, a trained historian, was speaking during a press conference called for the presentation of the contest winners.

According to Cornélio Calei, the prize makes room for personal and material realisation of the cultural actors, and should for that reason be publicised by the whole class and the national media, in order for it to be widely known and attract more participants from all over the country.

Cornelio Caley and Luís Kanjimbo, another deputy minister of Culture, were sworn in Friday by the head of State, José Eduardo dos Santos.