The first step will be the consolidation of recent acquisitions, followed by the company's expansion in areas such as power, infrastructure, financial services, medical equipment and even real estate, says Nanni Beccalli, head of General Electric International.

"We are focusing on areas witnessing growth and Romania is part of Eastern Europe, a highly promising region beside Russia, China, India, South-East Asia, Latin America and the Near East. Romania is joining the EU and this will accelerate growth and bring many infrastructure projects," states the GE representative.

According to him, when Spain and Ireland joined the EU, there were expectations growth in these countries would slow down, but they witnessed quite an opposite effect. Spanish and Irish economies boomed and this is expected to happen in the case of Romania and Bulgaria, too, which are readying to become members in January 1st, 2007. GE, the world's second biggest company in terms of market value after Exxon Mobil, operates globally and has taken a decisive step in Romania over the past year.

The company holds the most diversified activity portfolio in the world, from energy, aeronautics, financial services, to media and medical equipment and is applying its global vision in Romania as well, where it targets several sectors.

"We've invested 220 million euros over the past twelve months and there may be years when investments could come to 200 or even 500 million if there are opportunities matching our plans on the market," says Beccalli.

GE this year paid, though its GE Money unit, 140 million euros to buy Ralfi (owner of the Estima Finance brand on the consumer finance market), Leasemart NV (operating Motoractive Leasing company) and Domenia Credit (mortgage lending market).

"(...) We want to strengthen our position on the market of financial services, both throug