Sports: Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines Volcano qualify for Sevens World Cup 2013

The Philippine Volcanoes celebrate their third place finish at the Singapore Sevens. The win also meant that they qualify for the 2013 World Cup in Moscow. Photo from Sean Moore

Japan came from behind to beat Asian rugby rivals Hong Kong 14-12 in the Cup final of the HSBC Asian Sevens on Saturday at the Padang.

Both finalists earn automatic qualification to the World Cup in Moscow next year.

They will be joined by the Philippines, who beat South Korea 22-19 in the bronze medal play-off to also earn a berth at the World Cup.

Hong Kong had just wrested the Asian title from Japan earlier last month at the Mumbai Sevens final.

Volcanoes qualify for 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens

The Philippine Volcanoes made history on Saturday, defeating South Korea 22-19 for the bronze medal at the Singapore Sevens to clinch the final ticket to the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow.

"It is just fantastic that we are going to the World Cup. This is the first time that the Philippines will be playing in a World Cup and it is huge feat for us," said team captain Harry Morris.

Singapore vs Japan during the HSBC Asian Sevens. Japan's Lote Tuqiri (center) evads a tackle by a Singaporean player during the HSBC Asian Sevens qualifiers held on Nov 2, 2012. Singapore lost both its games today, first going down 5-19 to China in the Plate semi-final, then 12-40 to Malaysia in the 7th/8th play-off. -- ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

"The third/fourth match was definitely closer than I wanted it to be. I give credit to the players for doing this for the nation," said Coach Al Caravelli. The American coach was the former coach of the US National Sevens Rugby Team before being tapped to head the Volcanoes in August.

Key tries for Gaz Holgate, Matt Saunders, and Andrew Wolff, along with a conversion by Holgate were enough to push the Philippines ahead of South Korea for the victory. The Volcanoes were up big, 22-7, in the first half before the South Koreans tried to stage a comeback in the second half. Their two tries were not enough to overcome the Philippine lead, though, as the Volcanoes took home the final spot in the 2013 World Cup.

"The match against Korea was exactly what you want from any game with that much on the line. Now we need to lift our levels further. We don't just want to be a number in Moscow; we'd like to make the Philippines and Asia proud of us," added Caravelli.

The Philippine squad started their campaign strong on Friday with a 33-0 domination of Guam. The team then failed to overcome Asian powerhouse Hong Kong in its second match, 29-12, to end up second in the pool A. The second-place finish in the pool stage led to a match up against China, the top ranked team in Pool C. The team squeezed through a tough Chinese squad, 14-7, to book a semifinals against regional leader Japan.

The Volcanoes started Saturday with a loss to Japan, 17-10, in the semifinal match. With only three spots up for grabs for the World Cup in Moscow next year, the Philippines set up a showdown for the final spot against the tough South Korean squad.

Fighting through

MAKING HISTORY. The Philippine Volcanoes are headed to the 2013 Rugby World Cup 7s after defeating South Korea at the HSBC Asian 7s series and snagging third place. Photo by Bob Guerrero.

Ranked 6th in the beginning of the competition, the Philippines started with a 33-0 victory against Guam before they were humbled by top-ranked Hong Kong 29-12.

The Volcanoes then faced China in the quarterfinals. After a nail-biting 14-7 win, the Philippines met Asian Rugby powerhouse Japan in the semi-finals and conceded a 7-17 defeat.

In their match against South Korea for third place, the Philippines needed a victory to secure a slot to the World Cup. The Volcanoes were leading 17-7 at halftime, before South Korea entered the second half with renewed determination.

South Korea clawed their way back up but the Volcanoes held strong, finishing with a close 22-19 victory.

The Rugby World Cup Sevens will be held in Moscow, Russia in June 2013.

GMA News, Straight Times, Rappler.com 

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Philippines, Indonesia drive wedge between India, Asean

India is mulling suspension of negotiations on services and investment with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). In a meeting of Commerce and Industry Ministry on Friday, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has concluded that the options with India are limited given the non-cooperation from certain members of Asean like Philippines and Indonesia.

In a note approved by the Ministry on Friday, it has said that India's trade with Asean is growing at a healthy pace with a CAGR of 42 per cent achieved over the last two years. Exports to Asean have doubled from $18 billion in 2009-2010 to over $36 billion in 2011-2012, while imports have registered a growth of 28 per cent growing from $25.7 billion to $42.5 billion.

Given the background India would have expected a better services offer from all Asean members, but it looks that Philippines and Indonesia are not inclined. In addition, our position on investment also remains far apart, the note further added.

In view of this, the Ministry argued that options with India are limited. As a first option, the Ministry has suggested a suspension of negotiations on services and investment and resume these at a later date.

In another option, it has said that it can also mull concluding the services agreement on the basis of existing offers and conclude separate agreement with eight Asean member States and separate ones with Philippines and Indonesia. Third option could be to restrict the investment agreement to only an Investment Promotion Agreement given the wide divergence in positions on investments.

The India-Asean summit is set to start on November 19. A Prime Minister headed panel on trade-related issues on Friday directed the ministry officials to conclude agreement for further opening of commerce with the Asean before the summit. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who will be attending the summit in Cambodia, sought an update from Trade and Economic Relations Committee on the progress of the talks with Asean to widen the existing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) beyond goods to investment and services. Services are of importance to India as they contribute over 55 per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

After implementing FTA in goods in 2010, India and the 10-nation bloc are engaged in negotiations to widen the pact. India wants service sector to be liberalised by removal of all the non-tariff barriers.

The Pioneer 

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Philippines attempts to Take Over Pakistan Port, victory of portion; leadership

The structure of the PICT board of directors has undergone a significant change in the last board meeting, held on October 19, 2012. 4 out of the 7 members of the board now belong to ICTSIML. ICTSI – Philippines the parent company of ICTSIML – currently owns 24 marine terminals and port projects in 17 countries with $3 billion market Capitalization.

Philippines operator fails to get more than 35% stake in PICT

KARACHI: In corporate democracy, every vote counts. In all possibility, even small shareholders can thwart strategic decisions taken in corporate boardrooms.

This is precisely what appears to have happened in the recent acquisition of a majority stake in Pakistan International Container Terminal (PICT) by Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services Inc Mauritius Limited (ICTSIML).

Established by the Marine Group of Companies, PICT is a dedicated container cargo terminal located at the Karachi port with a maximum handling capacity of 750,000 twenty-foot equivalent units.

Besides attempting to acquire up to a 35% stake in PICT under its definitive Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) with major shareholders, ICTSIML had initially also set out to buy up to 20% shares from the stock market through a tender offer, which remained effective from August 10 to October 10.

However, ICTSIML could only manage to acquire between 5-6% shares through the tender offer, PICT Company Secretary Arsalan I Khan told The Express Tribune in an interview.

PICT's free-floating shares – which are owned by mutual funds, institutional investors and small shareholders – originally consisted of roughly 32% of the company's total shares. After the conclusion of ICTSIML's offer to purchase ordinary shares at a price of Rs150 per share, approximately 26% shares of the company still remain on the stock market.

The Marine Group owned 47% shares in PICT before it signed the SPA with ICTSIML. Subsequently, its stake in the company has fallen and now stands at 32%.The Jahangir Siddiqui Group is another major shareholder in PICT. It sold almost two-thirds of its stake under the SPA. Its post-SPA shareholding in PICT is 7%.

Although the terms agreed upon in the SPA allowed ICTSIML to buy up to 35% shares from major stakeholders, the Philippines-based company settled on acquiring only 29% of the company's shares. After the purchase of up to 6% shares under the tender offer from the stock market, ICTSIML's present stake in PICT is around 35%, which makes it the company's single largest shareholder.

The structure of the PICT board of directors has undergone a significant change in the last board meeting, held on October 19. Four out of the seven members of the board now belong to ICTSIML. Two directors from the Marine Group and one from the JS Group complete the count.

Profitable holding

PICT's profit-after-tax increased to Rs390.8 million (₱167.8 Million PHP) in the quarter that ended on September 30, compared to Rs318.1 million earned in the corresponding quarter in 2011, showing an increase of 22.8%.

"PICT is a mature company with solid cash flows and improving earnings. Therefore, the small investor is holding onto his shares. He is apparently looking forward to either dividends or share price appreciation," PICT Director Aasim A Siddiqui said while speaking to The Express Tribune.

With a market capitalization of over $3 billion, ICTSI – the parent company of ICTSIML – currently owns 24 marine terminals and port projects in 17 countries. PICT is the third biggest port terminal that the ICTSI partially owns, in terms of annual volume turnover.

"This proves that it's a major investment for our foreign partner. Small shareholders know that ICTSI has the ability to attract global shipping companies," Siddiqui said.

The Express Tribune

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