Lorenzo Zurino, from Piano di Sorrento to New Zealand.
At 41, the export entrepreneur is preparing to represent the Republic of San Marino in Wellington. But behind his appointment as ambassador lies, above all, the story of a man who has forged his own path by connecting businesses, regions, and people.
Some milestones come as a surprise. Others, when they arrive, seem to suddenly give meaning to everything that came before them.
For Lorenzo Zurino, the New Zealand government’s approval of his appointment as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of San Marino to Wellington likely falls into the second category.
Because, on closer inspection, this story doesn’t begin with diplomacy.
It begins much earlier.
It begins in Piano di Sorrento, facing a sea that for centuries has taught a very simple lesson: the horizon is not necessarily a limit. It can be an invitation to go beyond.
And it is beyond that Zurino has looked for most of his professional life.
Before Becoming an Ambassador, the Entrepreneur
Born in 1984, Zurino has carved out his own path in the world of exports and business internationalization, gaining extensive experience in dealing with foreign markets, particularly the United States.
But talking only about exports risks telling only part of the story.
Because exporting doesn’t simply mean transferring goods from one country to another. It means understanding different markets, interpreting cultures, and earning trust. It means being able to explain—thousands of kilometers away—why a product, a company, a body of knowledge, or a region has something special to offer.
Above all, it means learning to engage with the world without losing one’s own identity.
It is perhaps here that we find the first thread of the story that today leads Zurino all the way to New Zealand.
Long before it became an institutional function, diplomacy was already, in a way, part of his profession.
Not the diplomacy of protocols and credentials, of course. But the everyday diplomacy of bringing people together: gathering people with different interests, languages, and perspectives around the same table and finding a starting point from which to build.
Italy Aims to Go Further
This experience also gave rise to one of the insights that has most shaped Zurino’s journey: the Italian Export Forum.
The underlying idea is simple and, at the same time, ambitious: Italy possesses an extraordinary wealth of companies, expertise, and products, but to truly compete on the global stage, it must learn to work as a cohesive system.
Thus, individual experience becomes a collective endeavor.
The Forum has grown into a space for dialogue among entrepreneurs, institutions, and key players in internationalization. Meetings have multiplied, and connections now span Italy and reach across the ocean.
Behind all of this lies a firm conviction: “Made in Italy” is not just something to sell. It is a story to tell.
Because behind what the world recognizes as Italian lie regions, families, skills passed down through generations, innovation, creativity, and a unique ability to transform knowledge into beauty and value.
Bringing all of this across borders means representing it.
And representing something inevitably means taking responsibility for it.
When Trade Becomes a Relationship
There is one aspect of Zurino’s thinking that takes on particular significance today.
Over the years, he has repeatedly emphasized the value of economic relationships as a tool for dialogue among peoples. From this perspective, trade ceases to be merely an economic exchange and becomes an opportunity for mutual understanding.
This may seem like an idealistic vision.
Yethistory teaches us that international relations are also built on this: people meeting, businesses collaborating, interests becoming shared, and distant lands discovering they have something in common.
Relationships come first.
Then, often, bridges follow.
Zurino has spent over twenty years of his professional career precisely in this space: the one that separates two worlds and that someone must decide to cross.
Then comes Wellington
On August 10, 2026, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade formally expressed its approval of the appointment of Lorenzo Zurino as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of San Marino to New Zealand, with residence in Naples.
This is one of the fundamental steps in the diplomatic process. It will be followed by the institutional process leading to the preparation and presentation of the Letters of Credence to the Governor-General of New Zealand.
The institutional formalities accurately describe what has happened.
But they cannot tell the whole story.
They do not recount the years it took to get here.
They do not tell of the departures, the encounters, the successful projects, and those that likely had to start over from scratch. They do not tell of the hours spent building relationships that, at first, existed only as possibilities.
Above all, they do not tell how long the road between Piano di Sorrento and Wellington can be.
Not in kilometers.
In life.
At 41, a new generation
His young age inevitably makes this appointment unique.
At 41, Zurino belongs to a generation that grew up in a world where economics, communication, and international relations have gradually erased many of the old boundaries.
But it would be reductive to focus solely on his age.
What makes his profile interesting is rather the convergence of worlds that we have traditionally considered separate: business and diplomacy, economics and institutions, local roots and internationalization.
His career path began outside the traditional diplomatic track, and he brings to his new role the practical experience of someone who has engaged with international relations primarily through companies, markets, and people.
Today, the perspective changes.
It is no longer a matter of guiding a company across a border, but of representing a state.
And that is a huge difference.
Yet one thing remains the same: the need to listen, understand, and build trust.
When Trade Becomes a Relationship
There is one aspect of Zurino’s thinking that takes on particular significance today.
Over the years, he has repeatedly emphasized the value of economic relations as a tool for dialogue among peoples. From this perspective, trade ceases to be a mere economic exchange and becomes an opportunity for mutual understanding.
This may seem like an idealistic view.
Yethistory teaches us that international relations are also based on this: people coming together, businesses collaborating, shared interests emerging, and distant lands discovering they have something in common.
Relationships come first.
Then, often, bridges follow.
Zurino has spent over twenty years of his professional career precisely in this space: the one that separates two worlds and that someone must decide to cross.
Then comes Wellington
On August 10, 2026, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade formally approved the appointment of Lorenzo Zurino as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of San Marino to New Zealand, with residence in Naples.
This is one of the fundamental steps in the diplomatic process. It will be followed by the institutional procedures leading to the preparation and presentation of the Letters of Credence to the Governor-General of New Zealand.
The institutional formalities accurately describe what has happened.
But they cannot tell the whole story.
They do not tell of the years it took to get this far.
They do not tell of the departures, the encounters, the projects successfully completed, and those that likely had to be started from scratch. They do not tell of the hours spent building relationships that, at first, existed only as possibilities.
Above all, they do not tell how long the road between Piano di Sorrento and Wellington can be.
Not in kilometers.
In life.
At 41, a new generation
His young age inevitably makes this appointment unique.
At 41, Zurino belongs to a generation that grew up in a world where the economy, communication, and international relations have gradually erased many of the old boundaries.
But it would be reductive to focus exclusively on his age.
What makes his profile interesting is rather the convergence of worlds we have traditionally considered separate: business and diplomacy, economics and institutions, local roots and internationalization.
His professional career began outside the traditional diplomatic track, and he brings to his new role the practical experience of someone who has engaged with international relations primarily through companies, markets, and people.
Today, the perspective changes.
It is no longer a matter of leading a company across borders, but of representing a nation.
And that is a huge difference.
Yet one thing remains the same: the need to listen, understand, and build trust.
