Ivory Coast's new government on Tuesday met in the prime minister's office for the first time since the disputed November polls, cementing its authority a week after the ouster of strongman Laurent Gbagbo.
Prime Minister Guillaume Soro chaired the gathering of around 10 ministers at his office in Abidjan's business district of Plateau.
The meeting was also the first since Gbagbo was arrested on April 11, nearly five months after he refused to cede power to his rival Alassane Ouattara, whom much of the international community views as the winner of the November 28 presidential contest.
"This is a great sign. It shows that the country is moving... The country is being governed and we know exactly what to do," Soro told reporters after the meeting.
"A page has surely been turned and we must look to the future with a lot of hope and optimism," he added
Life in Abidjan was slowly returning to normal although a call by the new administration for civil servants to resume work Monday only saw few workers turn up in the central Plateau district.
Plateau was the scene of some of the fiercest clashes earlier this month between pro-Ouattara and pro-Gbagbo forces.
Traffic was light in the streets that were patrolled by Ouattara's forces who flagged down vehicles for inspection at several intersections.
Security has yet to be restored across this sprawling metropolis of five million people. Pockets of pro-Gbagbo fighters still remain in the city's northwestern Yopougon district where sporadic gunfire still rings.
However, a nationwide curfew imposed on March 31 when Ouattara's troops entered Abidjan was lifted Monday and the French forces here said they had handed back control of the Abidjan airport to Ivory Coast authorities.
"Today it was essentially about security in the whole country. I think that security has hugely improved since the first difficult days," said Soro.
"The interior minister informed us that the police have gone back to their base... and they are ready for work," he added.
Authorities at the Abidjan port, a key pillar of the west African country's economy, said there were few arrivals of cargo ships, with one container ship docked Tuesday and two others expected later.
Exports of its top produce, cocoa, are expected to resume later in the week. while banks are to resume business next week, a government official said.
In Brussels Tuesday, The European Commission doubled its aid to Ivory Coast to 60 million euros (85 million dollars) to supply civilians with water, food and medicine following an assessment by a team from the Commission.
"The Ivory Coast is passing through a very difficult period, but now there is a chance to turn a new page," said European humanitarian aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva.
"Whether this opportunity will be used, depends primarily on Ivorian citizens, but also on our ability to help them," she said. "We need to maintain both the speed and the scale of our assistance, so that we can not only feed the hungry and shelter the displaced, but also heal the wounds of this conflict."
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