Indian investors were thrilled to hear that veteran American investor Warren Buffett is planning to visit India in March next year.
美國(guó)投資大師沃倫•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)將于明年3月份訪(fǎng)問(wèn)印度的消息讓該國(guó)投資者欣喜若狂。
巴菲特 |
What isn't as widely known is that Mr. Buffett's revelation came thanks to a 12-year-old Indian-American girl from Los Angeles.
不過(guò)人們大多不知道促使巴菲特做出這一決定的是家住洛杉磯的12歲印度裔小女孩薩布瑞娜•楚芙(Sabrina Chugh)。
Sabrina Chugh was one of about 40,000 people who attended the annual shareholder meeting of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Mr. Buffett's company, on Saturday. A lottery selected a handful of shareholders who could ask Mr. Buffett, the world's third-richest man, a question.
薩布瑞娜是上周六參加伯克希爾哈撒韋公司(Berkshire Hathaway Inc.)年度股東大會(huì)的約四萬(wàn)名投資者之一。大會(huì)抽簽選出了幾位幸運(yùn)者,可以向在全球財(cái)富排行榜上位居第三的巴菲特提問(wèn)。
Sabrina says she was nervous when she was under the spotlight although her father, lawyer Navneet Chugh, had helped her prepare the question in advance. Since then the proud father has been trying to make sure his daughter's moment with the billionaire from Omaha doesn't get overlooked.
薩布瑞娜說(shuō),盡管爸爸已經(jīng)預(yù)先準(zhǔn)備好了問(wèn)題,但當(dāng)聚光燈照來(lái)時(shí)自己還是很緊張。薩布瑞娜的爸爸納維尼特•楚芙(Navneet Chugh)是個(gè)律師,從那以后,這位驕傲的父親就一直努力保證女兒向巴菲特提問(wèn)一事不要被人們忽略了。
'I didn't think I would ask it,' said Sabrina in an interview by telephone from California on Wednesday.
周三,薩布瑞娜在加州接受電話(huà)采訪(fǎng)時(shí)說(shuō),我沒(méi)想過(guò)自己有機(jī)會(huì)提問(wèn)。
Here's an account of what happened, according to Sabrina, her father and two other people who attended the meeting:
下面是事情經(jīng)過(guò),講述者分別是薩布瑞娜本人、她的父親以及其他與會(huì)人士。
Sabrina began by greeting Mr. Buffett and his partner Charlie Munger as 'Warren and Charlie Uncle,' and explained she was addressing them that way 'because my parents are from India, and we have to call anybody older than us 'uncle' or 'auntie'.'
首先,薩布瑞娜分別用“沃倫叔叔”和“查理叔叔”的稱(chēng)謂向巴菲特和他的搭檔查理•芒格(Charlie Munger)問(wèn)好,她隨后解釋說(shuō)自己的父母來(lái)自印度,必須對(duì)年長(zhǎng)于自己的人稱(chēng)呼“叔叔”或“阿姨”。
Mr. Buffett suggested she had better call him 'great-uncle' instead (Mr. Buffett is 79 years old).
聽(tīng)聞此言,79歲的巴菲特建議薩布瑞娜最好還是管自己叫爺爺吧。
Sabrina identified herself and went on to say that India has 17% of the world's population and its economy has been growing at 7% to 8% a year.
薩布瑞娜自報(bào)家門(mén)后說(shuō)到,印度擁有全世界17%的人口,經(jīng)濟(jì)增速達(dá)到了7%-8%。
'At this rate it will surpass U.S. GDP in 2043,' she said. 'Can you please tell me, why aren't you investing in India?'
她說(shuō),按照這個(gè)速度,印度的GDP將在2043年超過(guò)美國(guó),那么請(qǐng)問(wèn),你們?yōu)槭裁床辉谟《韧顿Y呢?
Mr. Buffett and Mr. Munger told Sabrina that they had looked at India and have India connections - referring to Ajit Jain, who heads Berkshire's reinsurance businesses. But they feel stymied by the cap in place on foreign investment in insurance companies in India. Insurance and reinsurance are Berkshire's main businesses.
巴菲特和芒格對(duì)薩布瑞娜說(shuō),他們一直在關(guān)注印度,并擁有與印度的紐帶,他們所指的是伯克希爾哈撒韋再保險(xiǎn)業(yè)務(wù)的掌門(mén)人阿吉特•杰安(Ajit Jain)。不過(guò)他們說(shuō),印度對(duì)外資在保險(xiǎn)業(yè)中的投資設(shè)有上限,這給他們帶來(lái)了障礙。伯克希爾哈撒韋的主要業(yè)務(wù)是保險(xiǎn)和再保險(xiǎn)業(yè)。
Still, one of Berkshire's companies, Israel's Iscar Metalworking Co., does have business dealings in India, which is partly why Mr. Buffett is planning to come here next year.
不過(guò),伯克希爾哈撒韋旗下的以色列公司Iscar Metalworking在印度擁有業(yè)務(wù),這也是巴菲特計(jì)劃明年訪(fǎng)問(wèn)印度的原因之一。
Even though Mr. Buffett doesn't invest in India, he has met many Indian CEOs over the years.
盡管巴菲特并未投資印度,但他在過(guò)去幾年中會(huì)見(jiàn)了許多來(lái)自印度的CEO。
'He's quite familiar with many of the larger business leaders in India,' says Mohnish Pabrai, a California money manager and a disciple of Mr. Buffett who attended the Berkshire meeting and witnessed the exchange.
加州投資經(jīng)理帕巴瑞(Mohnish Pabrai)說(shuō),巴菲特對(duì)許多印度大型企業(yè)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人都相當(dāng)熟悉。作為巴菲特信徒的帕巴瑞也參加了伯克希爾哈撒韋的股東大會(huì)、見(jiàn)證了巴菲特與薩布瑞娜之間的交流。
Mr. Pabrai discussed India at a lunch with Mr. Buffett that he won in 2007 after bidding $650,000 along with his partner Guy Spier. The money went to a nonprofit organization. Indian-born Mr. Pabrai called it a small 'guru dakshina,' or an offering to one's teacher.
帕巴瑞曾在2007年時(shí)與巴菲特討論過(guò)印度的問(wèn)題。當(dāng)時(shí)帕巴瑞和自己的合作伙伴斯皮耶爾(Guy Spier)為贏得與巴菲特共進(jìn)午餐的機(jī)會(huì)掏出了65萬(wàn)美元,這些錢(qián)后來(lái)交給了一個(gè)非營(yíng)利慈善機(jī)構(gòu)。出生于印度的帕巴瑞說(shuō),這筆錢(qián)不算多,只是交給老師的學(xué)費(fèi)。
Mr. Pabrai thinks that Mr. Buffett's visit next year will be great for India. He said the main driver for Mr. Buffett's interest in the country 'is to participate in the massive growth that is coming.'
帕巴瑞認(rèn)為巴菲特明年的到訪(fǎng)對(duì)印度來(lái)說(shuō)是樁盛事。他認(rèn)為巴菲特之所以有意訪(fǎng)印,是因?yàn)橄胍渡碛《冉?jīng)濟(jì)即將到來(lái)的大發(fā)展之中。