SINGAPORE (Kyodo) Japan's first carbon dioxide credit exchange is being planned to start in the middle of the year to help achieve the greenhouse gas emission cuts promised under the Kyoto Protocol.

Netherlands-based Asia Carbon International B.V., which last year set up Asia's first offshore carbon exchange, in Singapore, is planning to set up an exchange in Japan with Japanese partners, said Kesava Shotam, the firm's managing director.

"We're looking at setting up an exchange in Japan. We are at the moment in a very exploratory stage and looking for a good partner in Japan," Shotam said in an interview at the firm's Singapore office.