The following article is from the Language is Everything annual report for 2008.

For most people, the term 'World Trade Centre' conjures up images of New York's iconic skyscrapers. Yet the World Trade Centres Association (WTCA) has always been about much more than its founding member. Created in 1970, shortly before the first of the twin towers was completed in Manhattan, the WTCA now has 302 members in 85 countries.

"People from other cities and countries kept asking me, 'If a World Trade Centre is good for New York, wouldn't it be good for us, too?'," recalls Guy Tozzoli, a former New York Port Authority executive, and the driving force behind the WTCA. "Sure there are people in the world who want to stop capitalist activity, but commerce is a powerful tool for bringing together distant societies. It's a common language, a culture all its own.

''When you're promoting business, you're promoting peace. Because when I understand your aims and your culture, I don't have any reason to declare war on you, and instead we work together."

The concept of peace through trade has its origins in 19th-century Britain. Richard Cobden, a businessman turned politician who led the fight to repeal the Corn Laws, proclaimed in 1846: "I see in the free trade principle that which shall act on the moral world as the principle of gravitation in the universe, drawing men together, thrusting aside the antagonism of race, and creed, and language, and uniting us in the bonds of eternal peace." Cobden went on to negotiate the Anglo-French Commercial Treaty of 1860, regarded by some as the forerunner of the European single market.

Mr Tozzoli cites one particular example of how international trade has helped to extend human rights and freedom. "During the time of apartheid, people came to visit me from South Africa to inquire about having a WTC. I said, 'We'd be very happy to help you, but you must make it available to everyone in your country, because we're a non-political entity'."

In 1990, when President FW de Klerk sat down for talks with Nelson Mandela, the two men chose the only non-ideological venue they could think of: the WTC Johannesburg. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who nominated Mr Tozzoli for the Nobel peace prize, says: ''Peace through trade is the goal of the WTCA. It is not only a goal, but, in many cases, it has become a reality.''

The latest addition to this global network is the WTC Hull & Humber, which was opened by Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, in September 2007. Based in an eye-catching building on Humber Quays, the new WTC brings a wide range of expertise under one roof: its partners include the Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce, UK Trade & Investment, the University of Hull and Yorkshire Forward.

It's all very much in keeping with the aims and ideals of the WTC movement. "When I started at the Port Authority in 1960, world trade was 3.6% of our gross domestic product, and now it's 20%," reflects Mr Tozzoli. "World trade and our advances in technology are what have created the prosperity that we have.''

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> World Trade Centres Association