The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said here Thursday that the United States is committed to being an active partner with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and advancing shared interests and values.

Clinton made the commitment at the ASEAN-U.S. Ministerial Meeting with participation of foreign ministers or their representatives from ten ASEAN member states and the United States.

"The ASEAN-U.S. Ministerial Meeting is an essential element of our increased engagement," said Clinton.

"The American future is intimately tied to that of the Asia- Pacific," she said. "The United States is a Pacific nation and we are committed to being an active partner with the ASEAN and with all of you."

The United States commits to assisting nations of the Southeast Asia to remain strong and independent and ensuring that each nation enjoys peace, stability, prosperity and access to universal human rights, said Clinton

The secretary of state said that the U.S. is supportive and optimistic about the future of the region, as the ASEAN is America 's sixth largest export market and hosts more U.S. business and investment than China, she said.

Clinton is in Vietnam for the ASEAN-U.S. Ministerial Meeting and Friday's ASEAN Regional Forum. This is the second time for her to join the ASEAN Ministerial Meetings and related meetings.

She was at the annual meetings last year in Thailand and signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation on Southeast Asia (TAC) on behalf of the United States with ASEAN members. The move, according to Clinton, marked the return of the U.S. to the region and a leap forward towards greater engagement with the region.

The TAC is a regional security pact adopted by the ASEAN in 1976. As the role of ASEAN develops and their influence in the region grows, the TAC has seen wider engagement from countries outside Southeast Asia in recent years.

China joined the TAC in 2003, being the first country outside the region to accede to the TAC. A number of countries have also taken part in the TAC including India, Japan, Pakistan and Russia, among others.

To enhance influence in Southeast Asia, particularly amid competition from other partners of ASEAN, the United States has recently expressed interest to join the East Asia Summit (EAS), a regional macro-level dialogue platform gathering ten ASEAN member states and six partners including China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand.

At the EAS Foreign Ministers' Informal Consultations here Wednesday, ministers expressed support for the United States to join the EAS and decided to present the issue at the 17th ASEAN Summit to be held later this year for a formal decision.

The ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.