President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will visit Vietnam and China next month, Malacañang announced Wednesday.

In response to the invitation extended by the Vietnamese government, Ms. Arroyo will visit Ho Chi Minh City on June 6 to 7 for the 19th World Economic Forum on East Asia. This will be her 81st foreign sojourn since she assumed office in 2001.

Last week, Vietnamese Ambassador to the Philippines Nguyen Vu Tu, also the deputy director of the HCM City Department of Foreign Affairs, handed over his government’s invitation to Mrs. Arroyo to come over in Vietnam for the economic forum.

Some 400 world and business leaders will converge at the Ho Chi Minh City to attend the next month’s business forum, with a theme “Rethinking Asia’s Leadership Agenda.”

Among the issues to be discussed during the meeting include the green economies, policies for long-term growth in Asia, political agenda, and even financial global vulnerabilities and risks.

The World Economic Forum is an independent, international organization incorporated as a Swiss not-for-profit foundation which strives towards a world-class corporate governance system.

After her two-day visit in Vietnam, she will proceed to Shanghai, China to attend the Philippine National Day celebration at Shanghai World Expo.

The Philippines is among the 191 participating countries in the six-month long expo, which was formally opened on May 1 and was expected to attract at east 70 million local and foreign visitors.

Accompanied by Philippine Ambassador to China Francisco Benedicto, Vice President Noli de Castro inaugurated the Philippine pavilion which accommodates more than 45,000 visitors per day.

The Philippine government allocated P241 million for the exposition, while the private sectors earmarked P175 million.