In brief: Jersey’s External Relations Minister, Senator Ian Gorst, attended the Commonwealth Business Forum in Antigua and Barbuda, held alongside the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. He promoted Jersey as a finance centre, supported the launch of a new Commonwealth investment network, and visited a mural created by Jersey and Antiguan artists as part of the islands’ cultural partnership.
Jersey Takes Its Seat at the Commonwealth Table
Senator Ian Gorst travelled to Antigua and Barbuda to represent Jersey at the Commonwealth Business Forum, an event that brought together governments, investors, financial institutions and businesses from across the Commonwealth. Channel Eye reports that the Forum ran alongside the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, giving Jersey a platform at one of the more significant gatherings in the international calendar.
The Minister used the occasion to meet diplomatic, government and commercial contacts, and to take part in discussions promoting Jersey as what the Government describes as “a trusted, well-regulated international finance centre.” For an island whose economy depends heavily on its reputation in global financial services, being seen at the right tables matters rather a lot, and Antigua is, by any measure, one of the right tables.
A New Network for Private Capital
One of the more concrete outcomes of the visit was Senator Gorst’s involvement in the launch of the Commonwealth Family Office Network. According to Channel Eye, the network aims to connect private capital and expertise with investment opportunities across the Commonwealth. Family offices, for those unfamiliar, manage the wealth of high-net-worth individuals and families, and they represent exactly the kind of sophisticated client base that Jersey’s finance industry has long cultivated. Getting in on the ground floor of a Commonwealth-wide network of this kind is the sort of quiet, unglamorous diplomacy that tends to pay dividends long after the press releases have been forgotten.
Senator Gorst said: “International engagement is ultimately about delivering opportunities for Jersey. By building strong relationships across the Commonwealth, we can promote our businesses and finance industry, attract investment and create new connections for Islanders.”
Art, Culture and a Sister Mural
Not everything in Antigua was about balance sheets and regulatory frameworks. Senator Gorst also visited a new mural at the ABCAS campus, created during a week-long exchange involving Jersey artists Aimée Cast, Max Corbett and Toby Norman, working alongside Antiguan artists Tse Pigott and Joyce Murray-Watkins. Channel Eye reports that the mural builds on an earlier collaboration, with a companion piece already installed at Elizabeth Marina in St Helier.
The project sits within a three-year Memorandum of Understanding between Jersey and Antigua and Barbuda, which covers collaboration across the creative industries, education, sports, arts, culture and heritage. The Minister noted that the cultural exchange “shows how those relationships can also deliver opportunities directly for our communities,” which is a rather elegant way of saying that diplomacy need not always wear a suit.
Senator Gorst was pictured with Assata Roberts, Principal at the Antigua and Barbuda College of Advanced Studies, during the visit.
Source: Channel Eye
