Mexico City  - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was to meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon Tuesday, as he travelled to Mexico ahead of a conference on disarmament.

Ban was also to meet with Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, and city authorities were to hand him the keys to the city as a distinguished guest.

Ban's complete agenda in Mexico had not been made public, but the United Nations said he was to stay in the country until Wednesday. On the sidelines of the disarmament conference, he was to meet with various officials, including Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa and the ministers of health, the environment, social development and education.

The United Nations-sponsored annual conference on disarmament is set to start Wednesday and to be attended by delegates from 70 countries. Ban is scheduled to speak at the opening ceremony at the former convent of San Hipolito in central Mexico City.

Representatives of 1,700 non-government organizations are also expected to attend the conference on Wednesday and Thursday.

The outcome of the discussions, which will range from better monitoring of small arms to getting rid of arsenals of nuclear weapons, would contribute to the review of the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty at the UN next year and other disarmament debates.

The UN said the participants would discuss "how they can contribute to reducing arms while advancing peace."

Mexico City is the birthplace of the Treaty of Tlatelolco, the world's first nuclear-free zone agreement applied in Latin America in 1969.  dpa