Panama, November 5, 2020 -The Minister of Culture, Carlos Aguilar Navarro, advanced the scope of the newly enacted General Act of Culture of Panama, that creates institutional conditions for the full exercise of cultural rights, while attending the VII Ibero-American Congress of Culture.

During his paper, Aguilar Navarro stated that the next step in the institutional transformation of culture in Panama will be the design and elaboration of the National Plan of Culture that's been built participatory throughout 2021 and 2022 with goals at 10 and 20 years.

"With this new law, that President Laurentino Cortizo Cohen penalizes at the number 117 celebration of our formal birth as a Republic, we will have a platform for memory, for our traditional and contemporary expressions, for creating an ecosystem to the creative economy and for including and related to technologies, education, enjoyment and participation in the arts and creativity," said Aguilar Navarro.

The 7th Ibero-American Cultural Congress to be held up to November 8 aims to reflect on the relationship between culture and sustainable development and the contribution that can be made to improving the lives of Ibero-Americans.

Representatives of government institutions, civil society organizations and diverse members of academic, artistic and cultural communities of the region will share cultural experiences, where Mexico will be the host country.

The event will also give the re-launch of the Ibero-American Cultural Congresses with the motto "Culture and Sustainable Development," which aims to link the mandate to the Ibero-American Cultural Area at the XXVI Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government in Antigua, Guatemala (2018), where it was decided to add culture as a development tool with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

The Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), the Cultural Secretariat of the Government of Mexico and the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI), with the support of the 22 Ministries and Secretariats of Culture of Ibero-America and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) are part of the event that will be held telematic.