business & finance
Address for Gibraltar at WTCA General Assembly in Sao Paulo Gibraltar delegate, Brian Stevendale, recently joined 260 more representatives from 100 World Trade Centers across the globe at the World Trade Center Association (WTCA)’s annual General Assembly. Billed as “the most memberdriven General Assembly event” in the World Trade Center Association’s history, it was held in Sao Paolo, Brazil in mid-October. Having officially unveiled Gibraltar’s World Trade Center (WTC) proposition in March at MIPIM 2011 in Cannes, newcomer Gibraltar was fresh in the organisation’s mind. Board Member Rolf Draak from WTC Nice invited Brian to the stage to inform delegates of Gibraltar’s plans. Brian Stevendale, WTC Gibraltar’s Business and Development Director, explains, “With Gibraltar now part of the WTC family, it gives us vast opportunities to forge cross-border partnerships. We certainly raised the profile of the territory on a global stage to representatives of national governments and over one million companies. Rolf Draak had been impressed with our initiative to use MIPIM as a resource to launch WTCG and generously invited me to talk on the subject. It was a privilege to spend
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2011
20 minutes addressing the entire General Assembly on Gibraltar’s behalf, highlighting our unique attributes from tax efficiency to strategic geography, Mediterranean lifestyle to economic stability, and place Gibraltar under a significant global spotlight.” Gibraltar’s application to establish a World Trade Center (WTC) was approved by the WTCA at the conclusion of its Annual General Assembly in Beijing, China, in October 2010. With outline planning permission already in place, the seven-storey 170,000ft² WTC Gibraltar building will effectively treble the office space
already sold or leased at the Ocean Village development. Some floor areas will spread over 30,000ft², the largest available in the jurisdiction. Pure office space aside, the prestigious superstructure will also include business club executive lounges with dining facilities, secretarial services, year-round exhibition and display areas, virtual offices, state-of-the-art video conferencing and telecommunications, high speed lifts, climate control, electronic security access and CCTV as well as ample parking. n Tel: 200 40048, email brian.stevendale@worldtradecenter.gi website: www.worldtradecenter.gi.
33