Creation of an Asian cyber market place would make the region very attractive to infocom companies since individual country markets are difficult to break into, he said. To begin with, various Asian cities that are already wired up and infocom and infocom-enabled could jointly develop the software infrastructure. This would include the building of a common secure public key infrastructure, the creation of e-business standards and appropriate regulatory regimes on e-transactions and consumer protection, he pointed out. Adopting the positive aspects of Silicon Valley practices such as a common market that sees free flow of talent, ideas and capital, Mr Tong said the Asian region could emerge as the leader in new technology areas. The minister also called for strong capital market support from Asian and foreign investors for creating a thriving Asian IT market place.