GE to invest more in Southeast Asia

GE to invest more in Southeast Asia

SINGAPORE (AFP): General Electric Co. (GE) of the United
States is finalizing new investments in Southeast Asia to tap
into the region's rapid growth, company officials said yesterday.

GE runs several major manufacturing and service centers in
Southeast Asian countries, including three in Indonesia, five in
Singapore, two in Malaysia and three in the Philippines.

"In addition, GE is finalizing investments in several more
joint ventures around the region for aircraft engine servicing
and turbine repair," said Kenneth Brown, president of GE in
Southeast Asia.

Brown was speaking at a ceremony where GE's operational
headquarters status in Singapore was renewed by the government's
Economic Development Board, making it eligible for special
corporate incentives.

Southeast Asia represents a US$3.4 billion market for GE in
which it employs nearly 9,000 people.

This city-state serves as GE's center for the management and
development of operations in the region, which Brown described as
a "very exciting place to be in for now and well into the new
millennium."

"And GE will continue to be committed to the region's growth
and development," he said.

Moves to create a free trade area in the region by 2003 would
offer the company "a new window of opportunity," he said, adding
that GE was working closely with governments in Southeast Asia to
exploit its economic potential.

Brown said GE would expand its Singapore operations, making it
the center for high technology, manufacturing and service
businesses in the Asia-Pacific region.

GE is a diversified technology, manufacturing and services
company with revenues last year of $79 billion and net earnings
of $7.3 billion. GE operates in more than 100 countries, with 250
manufacturing plants in 25 nations.