42nd ASEAN Summit

He said the US remains deeply connected to the region as a Pacific nation, with strong ties and citizens living in places such as Hawaii and other Pacific territories.

"ASEAN is the primary way in which the US engages diplomatically in Southeast Asia. The US is a country that has deep ties to this region. We are a Pacific nation.

"We have US citizens who live in the Pacific, obviously in Hawaii, in other territories and we have strong relationships with many of our partner nation-states here in the region," he told the media on the sidelines of the 58th AMM and related meetings, which entered its final day, at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre here Friday.

Rubio also emphasised that the US is the single largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the region, strengthening its economic leadership and deepening partnerships with ASEAN countries.

He said the US delegation was warmly and positively received during the high-level meetings, which produced meaningful outcomes and new areas for future cooperation.

"We had very good meetings, with some real deliverables and new action items that we will be able to work on together in the years to come," he added.

Rubio said the US entered into a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia on civil nuclear cooperation, which he described as being very positive.

"We also saw an elevation in our relationships with a number of countries, which will be formalised over the next few weeks. So these are very positive engagements.

"We had a couple of defence agreements or defence sales that we were able to announce to a few of our partners during this visit as well. Those will become public soon enough.

"Overall, we felt it was a very positive engagement, and we identified new areas of cooperation," he said.

The 58th AMM and related meetings are taking place from July 8 to 11 under Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship 2025, themed "Inclusivity and Sustainability.

-- BERNAMA