Tighter bank financing, falling government subsidies and rising US shale gas production are all putting the squeeze on the renewable energy industry.

The wave of international expansions by Japan's banks and corporations in the past year suggest that the country's economy, which has long been struggling to recover from its financial crisis in the 1990s, has finally returned to strength. But Japan is still grappling with domestic difficulties, among them, low growth, large public debt and a mounting energy bill.

The Swiss National Bank has been the most aggressive central bank in a developed economy when it comes to seeking to stop its safe haven status from driving excessive currency appreciation, but many other such institutions are using other, more varied techniques.

Japan boasts a more mature and stable economy than its fast-growing Asian neighbours, and the country's vice-minister of finance for international affairs hopes that the country's role as a leading practitioner of financial diplomacy in the region is backed up by its banks.

Delegates at the annual Asian Development Bank meeting in Manila had their attention firmly focused upon another continent – Europe – and what the economic problems in the region may pose for its trade and financial activity in Asia. 

The Japanese Pro-Bond market, which was created in 2011, allows foreign issuers an easier route to Japan’s ample liquidity than through the traditional Samurai market. However, it needed a ground-breaking deal, and Dutch bank ING obliged.