< strong > 60 cultural entrepreneurs are trained in cultural tourism, creative economy and heritage at the historic centre. < / strong >

Crafts, cooks, designers, artists, tourism guides and cultural managers with productive vocation met from 16 to 18 October at the Canal Museum, convened by the Ministry of Culture (MiCultura), through the Casco Antiguo office (OCA), to participate in the seminar "Creative economy, material and intangible heritage and cultural tourism at the historic centre."

The training was supported by UNDP and brought together several departments of the Ministry of Culture as Cultural Heritage, Creative Economy and Copyright.

Other institutions, such as the Panama Tourism Authority and specialists such as Shalima Murillo, General Secretary of the South and Small Business Authority, have been involved and have been contributing elements about formalization and about the potential for dedicated activity in culture.

Lourdes Pérez, Secretary-General of ProPanama, discussed mechanisms to market local creations at an international level.

Yessenia Sánchez, head of the Casco Antiguo's office, stated that "this program aims to strengthen and expand concepts in creative economics, create synergies among organisations, develop promotional and marketing tools for artisan and entrepreneurs to put their projects into value and offer unique and attractive experiences with cultural tourism."

He also noted that "the seminar is one of the activities of the first Centro Vivo Forum, which will have as its close an academic cooperation meeting scheduled for Monday, October 30, at the Interoceanic Canal Museum. That activity takes place in honor of World Cities Day and has the motto" Heritage, creativity and sustainable urban development: A better historic centre, a better life. "

Lázaro Rodriguez, an international expert of the United Nations Development Programme, commented that "Panama has a great deal to discover and recognize its cultural diversity to put it to value through the creative economy."

"What we need that all of this wealth we see on the street, at people, at their culture and at what we are, can be transformed into goods, services and cultural activities that help to improve their quality of life and improve their neighborhoods and cities," added the expert from UNESCO and the World Tourism Organization.

That training was part of the institutional strengthening of the OCA that sought to expand the presence of MiCultura at the historic centre, so that the contents responded to the needs previously identified by the participants, whose interests were: training and training, professional networks and collaboration, development of their businesses, marketing and tourism.

Key information was also shared with a view to improving the cultural content of the proposals and 70% of the 60 participants are women.

These training will include other workshops specialized in Creative Economics and Cultural Tourism, 24 and 25 October.