New York, NY (April 12, 2021) — The World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) — an international trade organization connecting more than 320 World Trade Centers (WTCs) in nearly 100 countries — will host its 2021 annual General Assembly (GA), launching an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered B2B matchmaking platform.

The GA will bring together Member World Trade Centers and their global business networks consisting of leaders from business, government, academia, media and international organizations, reflecting the WTCA's diverse global footprint. With the theme of “The Power of Our Community,” the 2021 GA promises to be a unique and engaging week-long event, demonstrating the strength of the WTCA network and offering attendees the opportunity to learn from leading experts and connect with each other virtually via a complimentary AI-powered matchmaking platform. This year's week-long event will take on a 100% virtual format and be held from Monday, April 26 to Friday, April 30.

“In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, now, more than ever, is an important time to strengthen our connections and collaborate in international trade,” said John E. Drew, Chair, Board of Directors of the WTCA. “As a new addition to this year’s programming, we are incorporating an AI-powered matchmaking platform for a full week of networking opportunities to effectively and virtually connect GA attendees to business prospects around the world, at no cost to attendees.”

Mainstage sessions will kick off on April 27 with WTCA Members-only programming to provide updates from the WTCA Board of Directors and senior leadership, as well as updates from the nine Member Advisory Councils (MACs) covering areas such as Agriculture, Business Clubs, Conferences & Exhibitions, Real Estate and Trade Services. On April 28 and 29, the second and third days of the GA’s mainstage programming – which are open to all attendees – will include fireside chats, panel discussions and presentations from leading experts to help navigate today’s changing environment. The agenda promises a spectacular lineup, featuring Bernard Kuiten, Head of External Relations of the World Trade Organization (WTO); Feike Sijbesma, Honorary Chairman of Royal DSM; Hamid Mamdouh, Senior Council of King & Spalding LLP.; Peter De Keyzer, Founder and Managing Partner of Growth Inc.; Richard Lui, filmmaker, author and NBC/MSNBC anchor; Roberto Rigobon, Professor of Applied Economics at MIT Sloan School of Management; Sharif El-Gamal, Chairman, Founder and CEO of Soho Properties; and Suzanne Gaboury, Director General, Private Sector Operations Department of the Asian Development Bank.

Available to GA attendees for the whole week from April 26 to April 30, the AI-powered matchmaking platform uses an algorithm to collect and process individual interests of every event attendee, providing them with the means to discover the right content, foster meaningful connections with relevant matches and achieve individual goals. The tool also has the ability to learn from attendee interactions, further improving match relevance in real time and scheduling virtual one-on-one meetings instantaneously. Most importantly, it is complimentary, efficient and effective due to its ability to quickly find business prospects to connect with around the world.

“The WTCA is in a unique position as the only organization who can provide business matchmaking on a global level, across all industries and sectors. Not only through our vibrant network of WTCs, but also fully leveraging the latest technology. Hence we are proud to introduce our GA attendees to this AI-powered tool,” said Robin van Puyenbroeck, Executive Director-Business Development of the WTCA. “Leveraging an algorithm, attendees can receive a list of their best matches in just a few seconds — maximizing the time spent to establish networking opportunities with truly relevant people. We believe new technology such as this will benefit our Members and enhance our network’s ability to connect and facilitate trade for our Members and their business networks.”

For more information about the 2021 WTCA General Assembly, please visit https://events.bizzabo.com/WTCAGA2021.

MEDIA CONTACT:

World Trade Centers Association (WTCA)
Chanelle Kasik
Phone: +1 212 432 2644
Email: ckasik@wtca.org

About World Trade Centers Association (WTCA)
The World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) is a network of more than 320 highly connected, mutually supporting businesses and organizations in 92 countries. As the owner of the “World Trade Center” and “WTC” trademarks, the WTCA licenses exclusive rights to these brands for Members to use in conjunction with their independently-owned, iconic properties, facilities and trade services offerings. Through a robust portfolio of events, programming and resources that it offers its Members, the goal of the WTCA is to help local economies thrive by encouraging and facilitating trade and investment across the globe through Member engagement. To learn more, visit www.wtca.org.

New York, NY (March 2, 2021) — The World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) — an international trade organization connecting more than 320 World Trade Centers (WTCs) in 92 countries — has introduced its member World Trade Centers — as well as their business members, tenants and clients — to the Global Trade Helpdesk (GTH).

“The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Trade Centre (ITC) and World Trade Organization (WTO) developed the GTH to simplify market research for companies – especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) – by integrating trade and business information into a single, user-friendly platform,” stated Samuel Munyaneza, Senior Statistician of UNCTAD.

The WTCA hosted initial virtual training sessions in English and Spanish for its members over the span of three days from February 16 to 18, where nearly 150 attendees from World Trade Centers around the world participated in a demonstration of the complimentary online tool.

“On behalf of the WTCA, we are proud to offer our member WTCs and their MSME business networks with access to this new tool to make their market research more efficient,” stated Robin van Puyenbroeck, Executive Director-Business Development of the WTCA. “This tool aims to provide an integrated solution that puts a wealth of global trade information at the fingertips of entrepreneurs around the world.”

The online tool allows users to compare demand for products across markets, explore tariffs and other market access conditions, access details about buyers and navigate domestic export processes. Most importantly, it is complimentary, timely and relevant in today’s climate due to its ability to quickly find business partners to connect with around the world.

“We are delighted by the amount of positive feedback we have received from the WTCA’s members,” stated Anna Jankowska-Ericksson, Market Analyst in the Trade and Market Intelligence Section of the ITC. “The GTH was born from the idea that access to trade and market intelligence is critical to export success. We saw a lack of resources at the MSME level and created a simple tool to address prevalent information asymmetries hindering their competitiveness. We look forward to future collaboration efforts with the WTCA to help empower MSMEs to become active exporters and successfully navigate global trade.”

“We are focused on expanding this partnership and are planning targeted webinars for our member WTCs and their MSME business networks to share experiences and success stories resulting from the use of this new tool,” added van Puyenbroeck. “Not only will this help support MSMEs affiliated with our member WTCs, but it will also enhance our global network’s position as facilitators of global trade.”

MEDIA CONTACT:

World Trade Centers Association (WTCA)
Chanelle Kasik
Phone: +1 212 432 2644
Email: ckasik@wtca.org

About World Trade Centers Association (WTCA)
The World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) is a network of more than 320 highly connected, mutually supporting businesses and organizations in 92 countries. As the owner of the “World Trade Center” and “WTC” trademarks, the WTCA licenses exclusive rights to these brands for Members to use in conjunction with their independently-owned, iconic properties, facilities and trade services offerings. Through a robust portfolio of events, programming and resources that it offers its Members, the goal of the WTCA is to help local economies thrive by encouraging and facilitating trade and investment across the globe through Member engagement. To learn more, visit www.wtca.org.

About the Global Trade Helpdesk (GTH)
The Global Trade Helpdesk (GTH) is a multi-agency initiative led by the International Trade Centre (ITC), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and World Trade Organization (WTO) that integrates existing data and services from 11 partner organizations into a single online portal for small businesses. To learn more, visit globaltradehelpdesk.org.

NEW YORK, NY (December 21, 2020) – The World Trade Centers Association (WTCA), in partnership with business publication Latin Trade , unveiled its first WTC Prime Office Index LatAm 2020/2021. The index measures the recent and expected performance of sales and leases of premium office space in the Latin American. Moreover, on-the-ground insights from interviews with WTCA members around the region reveal that while the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about substantial changes in the real estate sector, a recovery is expected in 2021.

“The COVID-19 global pandemic has brought about economic uncertainty and forced businesses to react quickly to new realities in the short and long term,” stated Carlos Ronderos, Latin America Regional Director of the WTCA. “The WTC Prime Office Index LatAm 2020/2021 highlights that the premium office real estate market will become stronger along with the post-COVID-19 business ecosystem, and offers a new tool for businesses throughout the region to measure recent and future market performance. We believe 2021 will be a period of stability compared to the volatile 2020 and markets will be able to reach pre-COVID-19 levels by 2022.”

The WTC Prime Office Index LatAm 2020/2021 was built with insights from the WTCA’s Latin American members across 18 large, medium and small cities including Buenos Aires (Argentina); Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia); Curitiba and São Paulo (Brazil); Santiago de Chile (Chile); Barranquilla, Bogotá and Cali (Colombia); San Salvador (El Salvador); León, Mexico City, Monterrey, and Nuevo Laredo (Mexico); Panama City (Panama); Montevideo and Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay) and Valencia (Venezuela). Overall, the WTCA’s Latin American experts reported they are more optimistic about sales than rentals for 2021. The sales expectations index shows a measurement of 1.85 in sales while that of rentals remain negative at 1.39. The negative expectations are accompanied by a positive balance of expectations in terms of stability in sales prices and time taken to close a deal. No increases in sale and rental prices are expected in 2021, therefore signifying that properties will not lose value as in previous economic crises. Further, there are some additional, favorable conditions for buyers as interest rates will be historically low, countries will maintain extraordinary public spending policies in 2021 and large areas per worker will be required.

“Landlords will have to maintain some of the business strategies applied during the worst of the pandemic,” said Robin van Puyenbroeck, Executive Director-Business Development of the WTCA. “There is a need to continue to be innovative and flexible to weather the storm and adapt to the ever-changing market in order to close new deals. However, cities around Latin America, especially those where a World Trade Center is present, are well positioned to act as centers for economic stability in the region.”

The WTC Prime Office Index LatAm concludes that, despite the fact that a recovery of GDP is projected in the vast majority of countries in the region, ultimately, the business climate for the office market will be determined by factors specific to each country and city in terms of their political and socio-economic status following the pandemic. For example, experts expect an increase in supply of Class A offices in cities such as Lima, Monterrey, Mexico City and, to a lesser extent, Bogotá and São Paulo, for 2021 to 2023, where there will be pressure against rentals in terms of prices and vacancy rates.

"The WTC experts said that the office will not disappear in the post-pandemic world. It will be part of a new business ecosystem in which it will coexist with telecommuting and other modalities such as coworking," said David Ramírez, Editor of Latin Trade. "Telework, possibly, is here to stay, but, towards the medium and long term, it is very likely that it will tend to decrease in relevance, and in no case will it replace the office," he concluded.

The full index, including commentary from WTCA LatAm Members, is available for download here.

MEDIA CONTACT:

World Trade Centers Association (WTCA)
Chanelle Kasik
Phone: +1 212 432 2644
Email: ckasik@wtca.org

About World Trade Centers Association (WTCA)
The World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) is a network of more than 320 highly connected, mutually supporting businesses and organizations in nearly 100 countries. As the owner of the “World Trade Center” and “WTC” trademarks, the WTCA licenses exclusive rights to these brands for Members to use in conjunction with their independently-owned, iconic properties, facilities and trade services offerings. Through a robust portfolio of events, programming and resources that it offers its Members, the goal of the WTCA is to help local economies thrive by encouraging and facilitating trade and investment across the globe through Member engagement. To learn more visit www.wtca.org.

NEW YORK, NY – November 19, 2020 – Today, the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) announced the winners of the 2020 WTCA Champions Awards, its inaugural awards program designed to recognize outstanding contributions from member World Trade Centers (WTCs) within the WTCA network, and in their local and global communities. The association’s global network is comprised of more than 320 highly connected, mutually supporting businesses and organizations in nearly 100 countries.

Part of the association’s 50th Anniversary celebration, honorees were nominated by their fellow WTCA members, while winners were selected by a select panel for their contributions to the network across four categories — Connectivity, Reciprocity, Network Support and Sustainability — and the coveted Member of the Year award exemplifying the values, vision, mission and goals of the association.

• Champion Award for Member of the Year: Pamela Pascual of WTC Metro Manila for representing the WTCA brand effectively, providing brand exposure to thousands of businesses entering its expo space and availing themselves of the multiple services that the WTC Metro Manila team provides.
• Champion Award for Connectivity: Cheryl Smith of WTC Las Vegas for offering incredible VIP benefits to all WTCs and their delegates at the world's largest consumer electronics show, CES® in Las Vegas.
• Champion Award for Reciprocity: WTC Dublin for offering B2B matchmaking services and preparing their member SMEs to go global, ensuring benefits of the business transaction are properly reciprocated.
• Champion Award for Network Support: Karen Gerwitz of WTC Denver for sharing her knowledge and experience with her fellow WTC members, and making important contributions to the network through her work in the WTCA Member Advisory Council - Conferences & Exhibitions and Trade Services.
• Champion Award for Sustainability: Evert Jan Schouwstra of WTC Leeuwarden for inspiring WTCs and companies from across the world to learn more about The Netherlands' strength in the following Sustainable Goals: clean water and sanitation, good health and well-being, industry innovation and infrastructure, and gender equality, among others.

“The inaugural Champions Awards winners embody all that our association has represented over the past 50+ years. They are a true resource for not only their peers, but also the local business ecosystems and communities in which they operate,” stated John E. Drew, Chair, Board of Directors of the World Trade Centers Association. “On behalf of the organization, I am pleased to extend my congratulations to all of this year’s winners and nominees. The power of our network stems from the dynamic engagement of our diverse member base, and together, we are able to make a positive impact on trade and investment on a global scale.”

New York, NY (November 9, 2020) — The World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) — an international trade organization connecting more than 320 World Trade Centers (WTCs) in 90 countries — is pleased to announce its participation with the United Nations Global Compact (UN Global Compact), which for 20 years has been uniting businesses for a better world driving change across all aspects of corporate sustainability. The WTCA’s participation demonstrates the association’s support for the UN’s mission to drive business awareness and action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

“On behalf of the WTCA, we are proud to announce our commitment to support the UN Global Compact with advancing its ten principles with respect to human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption,” stated John E. Drew, Chairman of the WTCA. “Our association will engage in this initiative by making these principles an integral part of our business strategy, day-to-day-operations and organizational culture, and advocating for responsible business practices.”

The WTCA’s participation will further support its mission to operate responsibly and support society in alignment with universal sustainability principles. Comprised of more than 11,000 companies and 3,000 non-business organizations in more than 160 countries around the world, the UN Global Compact and its participants are a natural fit for the WTCA as they represent nearly every industry sector and size, and come equally from developed and developing countries.

“The UN Global Compact provides a universal language for corporate responsibility and a framework to guide all businesses regardless of size, complexity or location,” stated Sanda Ojiambo, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact. “We’re honored to have the WTCA’s participation in our initiative, which makes a statement about the strength of the association and its members’ values to make our world better. We look forward to seeing the WTCA’s commitment to corporate sustainability and a long-term partnership with the UN Global Compact.”

The WTCA’s participation with the UN Global Compact is the second new strategic engagement that the WTCA has announced as it continues to expand its network of partners across various sectors and industries relevant to its members.

“Today’s climate brings to the forefront the importance of sustainability and ESG – Environmental, Social and Governance – principles. These cover how we conduct ourselves, how we treat each other fairly and with dignity, how we care for the environment and how we operate with good governance. Joining the UN Global Compact’s initiative will allow WTCA Members to engage with other participants; partner with a wide range of stakeholders; share tools, resources and trainings for responsible corporate practices; participate in local networks in 85 countries; and join a global community of businesses in support of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals,” says Robin van Puyenbroeck, WTCA Executive Director of Business Development. “We’re excited for our association’s new initiative to become a global driver of change.”

To view the WTCA’s letter of commitment with the UN Global Compact, visit https://unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/participants/141326. 

MEDIA CONTACT:

World Trade Centers Association (WTCA)
Chanelle Kasik
Phone: +1 212 432 2644
Email: ckasik@wtca.org

About World Trade Centers Association (WTCA)
The World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) is a network of more than 320 highly connected, mutually supporting businesses and organizations in 90 countries. As the owner of the “World Trade Center” and “WTC” trademarks, the WTCA licenses exclusive rights to these brands for Members to use in conjunction with their independently-owned, iconic properties, facilities and trade services offerings. Through a robust portfolio of events, programming and resources that it offers its Members, the goal of the WTCA is to help local economies thrive by encouraging and facilitating trade and investment across the globe through Member engagement. To learn more, visit www.wtca.org.

About the UN Global Compact (UN Global Compact)
As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Launched in 2000, the mandate of the UN Global Compact is to guide and support the global business community in advancing UN goals and values through responsible corporate practices. With more than 11,000 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 68 Local Networks, it is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world. To learn more, visit www.unglobalcompact.org.