The World Trade Centers Association (also abbreviated as: WTCA) founded in 1970, is a not-for-profit, non-political association dedicated to the establishment and effective operation of World Trade Centers (WTCs) as instruments for trade expansion representing 316 members in 91 countries. The WTCA is an unofficial umbrella

Umbrella term

An umbrella term is a word that provides a superset or grouping of concepts that all fall under a single common category. Umbrella term is also called a hypernym. For example, cryptology is an umbrella term that encompasses cryptography and cryptanalysis, among other fields...

 trade association that unites corporations and government agencies in international trade. The WTCA's founding principles are:

• To encourage the expansion of world trade
  International trade
  International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...
  
  ;
• To promote international business relationships and understanding among nations;
• To foster increased participation in world trade by industrializing nations;
• To create and encourage mutual assistance and cooperation among members; and
• To promote and further the concept of the World Trade Center.

The WTCA is governed by a 24-member international Board of Directors

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

, composed of executives from WTCA members around the world, and elected by the membership. Eight permanent committees have been established to carry on the work of the Association in the following fields:

• Committee on Facilities and Functions
  Meeting
  In a meeting, two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal setting.- Definitions :An act or process of coming together as an assembly for a common purpose....
  
  
• Committee on International Relations
  International relations
  International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
  
   and Development
  International development
  International development or global development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development — the development of greater quality of life for humans...
  
  
• Committee on Planning
  Planning
  Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior...
  
   and Finance
  Finance
  "Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
  
  
• Committee on Public Relations
  Public relations
  Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
  
   and Information
  Information
  Information in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...
  
  
• Committee on Tourism
  Tourism
  Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
  
  , Hospitality
  Hospitality
  Hospitality is the relationship between guest and host, or the act or practice of being hospitable. Specifically, this includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers, resorts, membership clubs, conventions, attractions, special events, and other services for travelers...
  
   and Cultural Exchange
• Committee on Trade Education, Training and Research
• Committee on Trade Fairs, Trade Marts and High Tech Parks
• Committee on WTC Standards and Quality
• Committee on Peace
  Peace
  Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
  
   & Stability through trade

In December, 2008 WTCA Committee on Peace and Stability through Trade awarded its first Global Corporate Leadership award to Robert Thompson, Founder of CenTradeX, inc. Nashville, TN

The WTCA has more than 287 licensed world trade affiliates in 88 countries and more than 750,000 companies and individuals