UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon is to visit Washington early next week to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama, Ban's press office announced on Friday.

"The secretary-general is pleased to have received an invitation from President Obama and looks forward to meeting him in Washington on March 10," the press office said in a statement.

Ban and Obama will discuss "a wide range of issues including managing the consequences of the global economic crisis, climate change, challenges in Sudan, Afghanistan and the Middle East, nonproliferation and disarmament, human rights, UN reform, and U.S.-UN relations," said the statement.

During his two-day stay in Washington, the secretary-general will also meet with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

It will be the first time for the UN chief to visit Washington and meet with the U.S. president since Obama's presidential inauguration on Jan. 20.

Source:Xinhua