By Silvia Marchetti ROME, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Italy-Africa forum which took place in Rome on June 25-26 has paved the way for a strategic partnership between Sub-Saharan African countries and Italy. During the two-day meeting, Italian and African officials discussed investment plans for African development in key sectors and new infrastructure projects. 'We will take the results of the forum to the G8 summit in L'Aquila because Italy intends to launch a new economic partnership with Africa, particularly with the Sub-Saharan nations,' Italian Deputy Economic Development Minister Adolfo Urso told local media. For the first time, 300 Italian firms and banks met with 20 African industry and commerce ministers to define common goals. Italy's Group of Eight (G8) presidency has put Africa on top of its agenda and will ensure that at the July summit Africa will be a key issue for discussions. The African Union, as the representative of African countries, has been invited by Italy to take part in the second day of the G8 summit among other emerging economies. The priority themes to be discussed at the G8 meeting are the African emergencies linked to poverty, water and food safety, health, education, infrastructure, peace and security. Many international bodies have recently warned the world is far from reaching the UN Millennium Development Goals that pledged to halve the number of hungry people in the world by 2015, a problem worsened by the financial crisis. In fact, industrialized nations have lagged behind in their commitments to the African continent. The G8 agriculture ministers meeting in April admitted that little had been done in the past to fight world famine and poverty. Strategies so far implemented at a global level have produced unsatisfactory results. But Italy in its role of G8 presidency can set course for stronger cooperation between the West and Africa, Urso said. During the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa meeting in March, Italy launched an important investment plan for the African continent. The Italian government intends to offer to the African Development Bank a pilot infrastructure project initiative concerning risk assessment and brokering of risk mitigation mechanisms, in order to facilitate the attraction of private capital and the creation of public-private partnerships. 'Italy wants Africa to become an equal economic and industrial interlocutor,' Urso added. Africa is a land of great resources and opportunities. It is now time to consider the importance of investment and development projects for the Sub- Saharan countries aimed at increasing employment and improving well-being, according to Urso. In order to achieve such goals, Italy plans to increase its investment and double trade with Africa in the next three years, Urso said. The Italy-Africa trade currently amounts to 37 billion euros (51.8 billion U.S. dollars) per year. Strategic sectors of investment for Italian firms in Africa are raw materials, energy, infrastructure, agriculture and tourism. 'For too much time Italy and Europe have been passively watching their presence in Africa fall while the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) have seen it rise,' Urso told reporters. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government will this year launch the Plan for Africa aimed at giving financial support to all Italian firms wanting to invest in Africa, he said. A series of official trips will take place in September to consolidate the new Italy-Africa partnership. Italian Economic Development Minister Claudio Scajola will visit South Africa and Mozambique while Urso, the deputy minister, will travel to Angola. 