In a scheduled working meeting held on Friday, August 14, 2026, Dwayne George, Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Sports and Creative Industries, convened discussions with two senior leaders from Antigua Distillery Limited: Managing Director Anthony Bento and Group Business Development Manager Ed Mathurin. The core agenda of the talks focused on exploring potential future partnerships between the government ministry and the prominent local spirits producer, spanning both national-level and constituency-level projects across the sports and creative economy sectors.
This meeting comes just one day after a key announcement made during the official launch of Antigua and Barbuda’s 45th Independence Anniversary celebrations. At that launch event, Minister George revealed that Premier Beverages, a member company of the Antigua Distillery Limited corporate group, has signed on as a major sponsor for the milestone national celebration. Beyond its financial sponsorship, the company will deliver a set of tailored contributions for the anniversary: it is producing a limited-edition 45th Anniversary commemorative bottle of its signature English Harbour Rum, and will also provide the official bottled water for all official 2026 Independence events. This contract also extends to cover the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), a high-profile international gathering set to be hosted in the country in the coming months.