Wednesday, April 18, 2007

James Roger .........

I.m going to take you all around the world again, but this time we.re going to talk about
some of the things I.ve learned from these travels around the world, how I.m living my life
as an investor, as a parent, as a citizen of the world. We.re going to talk specifically about
some of the things going on in Asia and we.re going to talk specifically about the energy
and then afterwards we can take questions, we.ll talk about anything you want.
But the first thing we have to understand . and I know I.m in Hong Kong, but it is amazing
to me how many people do not understand the significance of the rise of China. Many
people in China do not understand the full significance of what.s going on.
China is the next great country in the world, whether we like it or not, and there are a lot of
people in America who do not like the fact that China is the next great country of the world.
I know that they call themselves communists in China, I know that they say they.re
communists, but I will tell you they are among the best capitalists in the world right now. I
know many people will tell you that they are the best capitalists in the world as we speak in
2007.
In China, they save and invest over 35 per cent of their income. In the United States, we
save and invest 1 per cent of our income. In China, when they come to work, they don.t
say how many days. holiday they would like to have, they say, .How many days can I
come to work?. They know how you live in Hong Kong, they know how we live in America,
they know how you live in Switzerland, and they want to live the same way too. They.re
Asian Investment Conference 2007
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willing to work as hard as they have to, they.re willing to save and invest as much as they
have to, because they want to be where we are.
You all know, many of you know there have been some horrible periods in Chinese history
that go back to several thousand years. Some of you know that there have been some
unbelievably successful periods in China.s history. For 300 years they were on a sort of
down trend, until about 1978, Deng Xiaoping says, .We.ve got to try something different..
They started trying something different and you know the rest of the story. They have been
the fastest-growing country in the world since then, but let me tell you this has a long way
to go.
There will certainly be setbacks along the way. Every country, every company, every
family, every person has setbacks. They will have setbacks. You know, in America we had
some horrible setbacks as we grew to our power and glory. The 19th century was the
century of the UK, the 20th century was the century of the US. The 21st century is going to
be the century of China, despite setbacks.
There will certainly be perhaps some real estate speculators going broke in the next year
or two. The Chinese government is trying to cut back on some sectors of the economy, as
they should. But if you see problems in China, I urge you to pick up the phone and buy as
much of China as you can or get more involved in China. Because this, what.s happening
in China, is already changing the world as we know it, but it.s really going to change the
world in the next 10, 15, 30, 35 years.
The single best word of advice I can give you, the single best word of advice I can give
you is to teach your children and grandchildren Chinese. I know many of you already do,
but for those of you who don.t, you must understand . I showed you a picture of my baby
girl. My baby girl is three, but my baby girl is completely fluent in Mandarin and in English.
When she came along, I got her a Chinese nanny who lives with us and I instructed the
nanny to only speak Mandarin to the baby girl, because I think that the best skill that I can
give someone born in 2003 is to be completely fluent in Chinese and in things Chinese. So
I.m not just standing up here babbling about this, I.m spending a lot of time, energy and
money making sure that my little girl is prepared for the 21st century, which is going to be
the century of China.

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