by Nirmala Carvalho

Clifton Desilva, director of an Indian financial consultancy firm, says Benedict XVI’s social encyclical was an encouragement to promote the entrepreneurial spirit in the Christian community. "The Church –he notes – is not the enemy of profit and ethics does not hinder the economy."

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The family, young people and new businesses are the key to promote an economic system and a labour market which aim for profits while also enhancing human dignity. Clifton Desilva, an Indian Christian businessman and director of the Altina Securities Ltd., a financial consulting firm, which since 1993 has proposed equity as a model for investment. This way of interpreting the labor market, the manager to notes AsiaNews, was greatly encouraged in 2009, by the social encyclical of Benedict XVI Caritas in Veritate, which prompts society to "promote an entrepreneurial spirit in the Christian community ".

There is a particular passage of the document of relevance for Desilva: "Profit is useful if it serves as a means towards an end that provides a sense both of how to produce it and how to make good use of it. Once profit becomes the exclusive goal, if it is produced by improper means and without the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty. "

"Caritas in Veritate - he explains - has clearly shown that the Church is not the enemy of profit, and shows that ethics is not a hindrance to the economy, but represents an opportunity that qualifies its objectives and efficiency."

According to the businessman, in this economic mment, "the Christian community should not miss the opportunity to harness the great potential that is available to us. I am speaking in particular of young people, that they should foster a spirit of entrepreneurship by starting new companies, or by creating a family. "

With regard to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR),  Altina Securities "has focused on two main objectives: to promote the value of equity (financing of projects) and promote entrepreneurship (promotion of projects)."

For the entrepreneur "this globalized world needs economic ethics that promote not only the virtues of truth and justice - which abound in most of our young Christians, thanks to the system of values ​​that comes from faith - but also personal qualities such as courage, fortitude, talent for business, reliability and prudence. "

 

• india
• benedict
• xvi
• caritas
• in
• veritate
• business
• economic
• christian