LONDON: The UK business secretary has praised the “message of peace and tolerance” she witnessed on a visit to the “spectacular” Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.
Kemi Badenoch shared images on her social media channels of her visit to the mosque, the largest in the country, during her trip to attend a ministerial gathering at the World Trade Organization conference in the UAE capital.
“The highlight of my trip was a visit to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, one of the largest in the world,” she posted on X.
“It is a spectacular building. The architecture and design takes inspiration from all over the globe, emphasising a welcoming and profound message of peace and tolerance,” she said.
At the conclusion of the WTO, which ended in the early hours of Saturday morning, Badenoch thanked the UAE for hosting the ministerial meeting and said that she was happy with the body’s decision to extend its e-commerce agreement.
“I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard at (the forum), particularly the UK team, our Emirati hosts, and the WTO director-general. I saw first-hand how delegates worked around the clock to try to get the outcomes for business and consumers,” she said.
“I am proud of the active and constructive role the UK played, bringing people together, showing flexibility, and brokering results. While we didn’t achieve everything we wanted, we secured important agreements to protect tariff-free digital trade and help the least developed countries to benefit from free and open trade,” she said.
Badenoch continued: “The UK’s primary objective for this conference was to ensure digital trade remains tariff-free —to guarantee small businesses are not taxed for having an international conference call and consumers do not pay extra to stream songs or films from other countries.
“I am pleased the WTO agreed to extend the e-commerce moratorium — a global agreement that avoids taxes on online transactions from emails to music or TV downloads — for two more years. The decision will provide businesses of all sizes with the certainty they need to grow and keep costs down for consumers everywhere.”
