13 July 2009
Lisbon — The Angolan minister of Foreign Affairs, Assunção dos Anjos, last Sunday in Lisbon defended the need for greater interaction among states, in tackling the economic and financial crisis that has been affecting all the world's economies.
Assunção dos Anjos said so at the 5th Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies, which was held last Saturday and Sunday, in Belém Cultural Centre.
Addressing participants on the theme "The impact of the current financial and economic crisis on democratic governance", the Angolan diplomat asserted that a positive interaction among states and governments enables the exchange of information, due to the advantages of technology and the democratic system itself.
"Although no-one can foresee for how long more the crisis will continue, without hesitation I can say that the greatest guarantee that we have to mitigate this problem in our countries is our capacity of interaction and institutional co-operation", he defended.
According to the minister, the last century was marked by the rediscovery of capitalism, following the initial hesitation after the crisis of 1930, as well as the subsequent decrease in state intervention.
He also reminded that the current economic and financial crisis affecting the world happens at a time that there is the development of democratic processes in many places, mainly in Africa.
"The contemporary democratic societies must not accept the economic and social imbalances caused by the market, on the contrary, they should endow the state with the necessary conditions so that the government can successfully face the failures of the market".
The event, that discussed several themes, also served to pay homage to South Africa's former president, Nelson Mandela, with the award of the Geremek Prize, for his outstanding contribution to the promotion of democracy.
The Community of Democracies is an intergovernmental organisation of democratic countries, which was created in the year 2000, in Warsaw.
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