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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is scheduled to leave next week for visits to Japan, New Zealand and Australia to further enhance bilateral, trade and economic relations with those countries, Malacañang announced Wednesday.

In his weekly press conference at Malacañang yesterday afternoon, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the President will be in Tokyo from May 22-25 to attend the 13th Nikkei Conference on the Future of Asia.

The President is one of the keynote speakers in the conference to be attended by state leaders, former prime ministers, and top business executives around the world.

Also included in the main agenda of the President’s visit to Tokyo is to further enhance the Philippines’ bilateral, trade and economic relations with Japan.

Ermita noted that aside from its big investments in the country, Japan is one of the top providers of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the Philippines for its pro-poor and rural development projects.

On May 27-30, the President will visit New Zealand and proceed to Australia on May 30-31.

It is expected that the President will take advantage of her visits to New Zealand and Australia to encourage the two countries to continue and expand their investments in the Philippines, particularly in the mining sector.