Disasters will not have long-term effect on Japanese economy, Buffett says

DAEGU ― The disasters that struck Japan will not change the economic prospects of the country, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chief executive Warren Buffett said Monday.

Speaking at a press conference held on the sidelines of the groundbreaking ceremony for TaeguTec’s second plant in Daegu, Buffett said that while such adversity leaves effects, they would temporary and limited in the long term.

TeaguTec is an industrial tool and tungsten product manufacturer wholly owned by the Israel-based IMC Group, 80 percent of whose shares are held by Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

“My thoughts are exactly as they were in the U.S. after 9/11. I went on TV that week along with Jack Welch (former GE CEO), and I said that as horrible as the events had been, they did not change the future nor the economic prospects of the U.S.,” Buffett said.

“Same in Japan; it is a blow, an enormous blow, but the people of Japan have the same resources and desires as they had two or three weeks ago. It will not change the economic future of Japan.” 

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. CEO Warren Buffett (right) dressed in hanbok, addresses a press conference at TaeguTec in Daegu on Monday. On the left is IMC Group chairman Eitan Wertheimer. (Park Hyun koo/The Korea Herald)

He added that a country can emerge stronger in the years following such adversity, citing Korea’s experience during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, saying that the period “turned out to not to be selling stocks but to become very rich.”

“If I had Japanese stocks I would not sell them, and if I had money to invest and liked a company, I would not look at it differently now from I did 10 days ago,” Buffett said.

Buffett, now in Korea for the second time, also met with President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul and will be leaving for India Tuesday.

Regarding his investments in Korea, Buffett said that his company still holds stakes in the steelmaker POSCO and that of a much smaller company.

“I believe POSCO was the only one Berkshire Hathaway owned at the time (his last visit in 2007), we still own the same amount,” Buffett said.

“I don’t think there are more than three or four companies outside the U.S. we have invested more than $1 billion in, and POSCO is one of them.”

Describing POSCO as an “incredible” steel company, Buffett said that it represented a major investment for Berkshire Hathaway. He also said that he still had shares of a Korean small company, declining to identify it citing the effects his words would have on its stock prices.

In answer to his views and any potential plans his company may have about Samsung Electronics, he said that his company doesn’t have shares in an electronics firm in any country, but that does not rule out changes in the future.

Regarding his company’s plans in general, Buffett said that he prefers to hold about $20 billion of this company’s $38 billion in cash, and that he is now looking for large companies to invest in.

“The bigger the better; large companies appear to me and Korea has a number of big companies, so it is a hunting ground.

Regarding the escalation of tension between South Korea and North Korea seen over the past months, Buffett said that there have not been any developments that would make him want to reduce his holdings in Korea.

He added that his company does not focus on potential investments based on industry or sectors, but that Korea has many good companies that would “fit very well within Berkshire Hathaway.”

“It would narrow the range of opportunities, I look at companies that I have some idea about what it will look like in five, 10 years,” Buffett said.

“When I get in the office, I hope that I get a call from someone with a wonderful business, I would love to hear from someone in Korea, but I would also like to hear from 20 other countries.”

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)