GE committed to Middle East growth

This was the message from Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE, during his Middle East visit to the region today to reaffirm the company's commitment to the rapidly developing region. Last year, GE's Middle East & Africa operations contributed more than US$8 billion in orders, which is a growth of 80% over the previous year. GE is the only company listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Index today that was also included in the original index in 1896. GE's 2005 revenues were US$149.7 billion, and earnings US$18.3 billion (US$1.72 per share).

Immelt's visit would take him to three of GE's key markets within the region - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, State of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He has already held several meetings with high-level officials to discuss mutual co-operation and strategic opportunities.

Immelt said: "I wanted to reiterate GE's commitment to serve a region where we have been present for over 70 years and have played a vital role in its development. Both GE and the governments here share a common interest in fostering regional advancement and we will do our part to drive further development and completion of strategic projects.

"GE has a continued focus on innovation and forward-looking technologies to help us answer modern challenges and better enable our customers respond to a changing world with many pressing issues.

"Applying technology to solving problems is universally good business - Middle East is a key region of interest for our growth strategies and holds many opportunities - GE looks forward to working with our customers in the region to deliver the technologies that will strengthen future development in key industry sectors including oil and gas, infrastructure, healthcare, energy and water.

"At the forefront of GE's 2006 strategic plan is the goal to further promote growth, employment, transfer of knowledge and technology across the Middle East. Building on the successes of 2005 in the region, we will explore development opportunities in these key areas," Immelt added.

Five of the company's six businesses - GE Infrastructure, GE Healthcare, GE Industrial, GE Commercial Finance, and NBC Universal - operate across the region through the company headquarters in Dubai in addition to corporate offices in Jordan and Qatar and fully-fledged offices in other key markets including Kuwait and Riyadh. GE has also invested in numerous joint venture enterprises in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and its own facilities throughout the region.

GE's President & CEO, Middle East & Africa, Nabil Habayeb said:

"Mr Immelt's visit further reiterates GE's commitment to the region and allows us to enhance key relationships with clients and potential customers. 2005 was a significant year for GE in the Middle East, and we look forward to further building on that this year."