General Electric means business in Romania

General Electric, the world’s largest company, has started a $20 million programme to equip eight medical centres in Romania.

The American group also wants to consolidate its presence in the energy and aerospace industry and is interested in a medium-term investment in consumer finance, as well, Ferdinando Beccalli, GE Europe president and CEO told Ziarul Financiar.

Beccalli was appointed GE Europe president and CEO last year, when he visited Romania for the first time in his new position in order to assess the possibilities to expand the Romanian operations of the American group.

In the meantime, GE Europe has commenced the medical centre project, completed a $10 million investment in the joint-venture it set up along with Turbomecanica Bucharest and kept on buying more than $50 million’s worth in products from Romanian companies.

“Our strategy for Romania over the last twelve months has pursued boosting our medical equipment, aerospace and energy business. As soon as the three development directions shape up, we will also consider consumer finance or real estate operations,” Beccalli said.

General Electric is the most complex company in the world, which deals in aircraft, electrical power equipment, insurance, electricity, consumer goods, financing or plastic industry.

The project to retool the eight medical centres began this spring when the first such centre opened in Arad and will be completed some time in the next few years.

“We will finish our second centre by yearend, with two more scheduled for completion in 2004. Each centre needs $2.5 million investments, born by Euromedic, a company wherein we hold 33%,” GE Europe’s president and CEO said.

The centres will be built under a public-private partnership and the necessary medical equipment will come from GE.

Although high-profiled in Central Europe, especially in Hungary, General Electric has kept a rather low profile in Romania: a several million-dollar investment in Banc Post shares and sale-purchase contracts worth several tens of millions of dollars a year.

The American group became more active last year, when it established a joint venture with Turbomecanica, in which it invested $10 million. The company makes parts and subassemblies for the aircraft engines produced by GE in France.

“The joint venture’s output this year will be worth 15 million dollars and will be bought entirely by General Electric. This proves we are very serious about the development of this business,” Beccalli says.
laurentiu.ispir@zf.ro