Italy’s new honorary consul for the state of Georgia was sworn in this week in Miami, officially taking up duties he has been preparing to assume for more than a year. Filiberto Calascibetta leads the Italian practice for the Atlanta office of Rödl & Partner, a tax and advisory firm that helps European companies break into the Southeast U.S.

A self-proclaimed “beginner” in diplomacy, Mr. Calascibetta spent Thursday in Miami completing an orientation preparing to operate an emergency hotline, maintain a registry of Italian nationals and handle document requests. He even returned to Atlanta with a portable fingerprint reader in tow, giving him a passport renewal function the honorary consulate didn’t have before.