Zoellick to visit Asia in first trip as World Bank chief

WASHINGTON (AFP) - In his first trip abroad as World Bank president, Robert Zoellick will visit the Asia-Pacific region July 30-August 9, including Australia, Japan, Cambodia and Vietnam, the bank said Wednesday.

Zoellick, who took office on July 2, will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Australia, followed by visits to Cambodia, Vietnam and Japan, a top World Bank shareholder that will host the Group of Eight meeting in 2009.

Zoellick was named the World Bank's 11th president on June 25, after a favoritism scandal forced his predecessor, Paul Wolfowitz, to step down on June 30.

A Harvard graduate, former deputy secretary of state and US trade representative, Zoellick gave up a position at investment bank Goldman Sachs after US President George W. Bush chose him to lead World Bank.

In an unwritten rule, the US government traditionally selects who will lead the World Bank while the European Union decides who will run its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund.