Gorkhalis takes on Philippines Azkals Football Today in friendly match

Azkals Vs Gorkhalis

As part of the preparation for the upcoming SAFF Championship to be held in New Delhi, India, in December 2011, Nepal is all set to begin the tour of ASEAN countries with its first clash against the national team of the Philippines Azkals at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in the capital city Manila on Tuesday (October 11, 2011).

The first tour match will be vital for both-the visiting team Nepal "Gorkhalis" and the home side.

The victory in the first match is sure to boost morale of the Nepali team which is set to play against three other countries namely Malaysia, Colombia and Thailand and some local clubs of those nations.

The match, at the same time, will be a prestige match for the host as it will be played at their home ground which is expected to pull huge crowd.

Similarly, the result will carry vital significance to the Philippines side which will play the final stage of AFC Challenge Cup at the Dasharath Stadium next year 2012.

The match is also expected to be a test for the ambitious Nepali national team "Gorkhalis" that started the tour of ASEAN countries to prepare itself for winning the SAFF Championship after 18 years.

Looking back at the history, Nepal has played against the Philippines only once during the Kings Cup in Thailand in 1982. Nepal had defeated the opponent 1-0.

Despite the fact that Nepal is placed above Philippines in both FIFA and AFC rankings, Nepali team´s British coach Graham Roberts is in no mood to take the match lightly and has dismissed the difference in the rankings between two teams is an advantage for Nepal.

Nepal ranks 135 and the Philippines 166 in FIFA rankings, while AFC rankings puts Nepal at 20 and the Philippines at 33.

"Ranking is not a great deal and low rank doesn´t mean that they are weak," Roberts had told Republica ahead of the team´s departure to Manila. "We will play against Philippines for victory and will try to improve our performance in every match we play."

"I have seen the Philippines side play. They are a very tough side. Some of their players play from European clubs and two of them are members of Premier League side Fulham. Our players are both physically and mentally fit and we will try to give our cent percent," Roberts had said, adding, "We have come here to play good football and we will not take any team lightly."

The Nepali team is in a good form following a tough two months training. Though the team´s confidence level is very high, Nepal does not have a good record of playing well abroad.

Nepal surely has a strong defense line up and the coach has termed his defense as world class. The midfield is also satisfactory but Nepal has always lagged behind in finishing and must come up with improved finishing for favorable result.

The Philippines coach Michael Weiss said during the pre-match press conference that he has a strong side and the team will be a mix-up of Europe based players and local players, according to goalnepal.com.

"We will take the match seriously as we are going Nepal next year for AFC Challenge Cup," Weiss said, adding, "We recently played against Singapore. We lost the match but boys played really well. I feel this is going to be a close tie."

Nepal will play its next match against Malaysian U-23 (Olympic team) in another friendly on October 15.

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Singapore seen - Philippines economy will double by 2020

The Philippine economy may grow 80 percent larger within nine years as anti-corruption efforts build momentum and translate into greater foreign direct investment inflows, according to DBS Group.

In a research titled "Asia 2020," the Singapore-based financial service group said that over the coming decade, economic growth will be respectable and trending toward 6 percent.

Such growth will depend much "on policy and whether the large labor pool and resource endowment—which include gold, nickel and copper—can be effectively tapped upon," the paper said.

"We hold a cautiously optimistic view of the economy and expect reform to proceed at a moderate rate," DBS added. "By 2020, GDP will (in today's dollars) likely be 80 percent larger, and income levels 45 percent higher than at present."

The group said that the Aquino administration has so far done a credible job in introducing reforms focused on fiscal discipline and public-private partnership (PPP) on infrastructure investments as well as population management and anti-corruption reforms.

Amid criticism that the government is not spending enough, Malacañang has limited deficit-spending to ₱34.5 Billion in the eight months to August, or about a seventh of the ₱228.1 Billion recorded in the same period of 2010.

Also, Malacañang expects to auction off the first of big-ticket PPP projects before yearend.

"A new structure for project approvals and implementation is being established, which should complement the launch of PPP projects," DBS said. "Measures to counter corruption should raise investor confidence."

DBS noted that the savings rate has grown to 18 percent from 11 percent in 2004 adding that investment is beginning to follow the same path and that GDP should follow.

"In short, the reform momentum is building, and this should translate into greater FDI inflows and complement the rising domestic savings rate already apparent in the data.

Further, DBS said the country's young population could prove to be an advantage although the still-high birth rate remains a challenge, with an additional 19 million people seen within the next nine years.

"To some extent, resources have been spent in accommodating a rise in population at the expense of other investment, and this may have impeded GDP growth," DBS said.

PUPTF – Petroleum Task Force Mining Exploration

As the Aquino administration is poised to bet heavily in developing the country's oil and gas resources, an inter-agency task force has been created by Malacanang to oversee government approvals on upstream petroleum investments.

Under Executive Order No. 60 signed by President Aquino last September 30, 2011 it has been stipulated that the inter-agency Philippine Upstream Petroleum Task Force (PUPTF) will primarily watch over the implementation processes for the $1.0 billion fresh batch of investment for the Malampaya gas field project.

The EO creating the new task force basically amended Executive Order No. 254 which was the underpinning policy for oil and gas developments since 1995.

"It is in the interest of the Philippine government that projects such as the Malampaya Phases 2 and 3 are executed with no harm to people and the environment, with minimum disruption to the power supply of Luzon, and completed on time and within budget," the EO has emphasized.

The task force has to be chaired by Energy Secretary Rene D. Almendras and the membership will be completed by 17 more representatives from various government agencies. They shall include Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Department of Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas; Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Justice Secretary Leila De Lima, among others.

Aside from the Malampaya venture, the task force will also keep an eye on the new 15 petroleum blocks due to be auctioned by the Department of Energy (DoE) toward the end of this year.

Fundamentally, the role of PUPTF will be to "review, simplify and streamline the applicable rules, regulations and procedures" in upstream project implementations. These shall rope in "the efficient deployment of personnel, vessels, machinery, equipment, spare parts and materials to be used in petroleum operations."

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