Panama, September 3, 2025. - The Vice Minister of Culture, Arianne Benedetti, met with the artisans who hold the jobs of the Old Panama Crafts Center with the aim of coordinating the internal mobilization of their place to conduct a profound cleanliness and general painting of the building.

Several meetings have been held earlier in the search for a feasible strategy that will allow artisan to continue their sales and at the same time to heal and remove the place.

First of all, because of the conditions of unhealthfulness and deterioration of the structure, built in 2011, it was intended to move the jobs to the Chat Arco at Casco Antiguo, a proposal that was not feasible for artisans who require to preserve their customers' fidelity, especially at times close to their familyparties. That decision had been made on the basis of technical assessment of the property, with a view to offering them an appropriate and secure area to put forward and promote the sale of their goods.

Following several meetings, it was agreed that the artisan will be moved internally while cleaning and painting are performed at an initial stage. At this meeting, the director of Handicrafts, Dhavinia de Mares, participated, who used them to discuss their needs with each other.

The rehabilitation of the area will be undertaken by Plan Libertad, a program led by the Ministry of Government, in co-ordination with the Office of the First Lady, and includes an integral programme of repairs and cleanliness. That group has been successfully performing purging and cleaning work at El Pausilipo, Arco Chato and the old building of the National Cultural Institute, among other institutions and heritage.

Thus, the Ministry of Culture reaffirms its institutional commitment to preserve the integrity of the transmittors of our ancestral knowledge and to strengthen the artisan sector.