U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Tunisia next week to co-host a sub- ministerial meeting for the 9th Forum of the Future with the Tunisian government, the official TAP press agency reported Friday.

Clinton will arrive in Tunisia on Thursday, TAP quoted a U.S. State Department communique as saying.

This year's forum welcomes increased levels of civil society, private sector and government participation, and focuses on the key themes of women's empowerment, freedom of expression and association, and economic governance and entrepreneurship, the communique said.

During her visit, Clinton will also meet with senior Tunisian government officials to discuss progress in the country's transition, as well as bilateral and regional issues.

Prior to the trip to Tunisia, Clinton will travel to Marrakech, Morocco, to take part in a "friends of the Syrian people" meeting. During her stay there, she is expected to meet with King Mohamed VI of Morocco.