SINGAPORE, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Asia is poised to be the largest supplier of Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) to the global carbon market, a senior Singapore official said on Monday.

    Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Education S Iswaran said that 70 percent of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects located within the Asia-Pacific, with China and India remaining the world's largest suppliers of CERs, although the rest of Asia, including the ASEAN countries, also has immense potential to explore CDM projects.

    He said while the CDM process may have its shortcomings, the carbon and CDM markets have been successful on many counts. They have helped provide a sound economic basis for carbon reductions while the European Union Emission Trading System has put carbon awareness squarely on the agenda of the boards of many major companies.

    Adding that climate change is a long-term global challenge, he said that there will be an enduring role for carbon markets to help the world meet this challenge, as Singapore gears up to participate actively in this dynamic new sector.

    "Given our strategic location, Singapore can play an important role, particularly for companies looking to expand their CDM activities into the region. We have well-established legal, regulatory and financial institutions, a business-friendly environment and modern infrastructure and communications," he said.

    He added that Singapore has seen an influx of new entrants in the carbon space, as Singapore leverages its strong commodities trading base to support carbon trading, and that it has set aside 700 million Singapore dollars (489.5 million U.S. dollars) to build research and development and manpower capabilities in various clean tech areas, including clean energy and environmental and water technologies.

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