At the end of 2007, GE announced plans to double investments and its number of employees in Romania in the near future and suggested Romania had a 50% chance of receiving a 100m-dollar investment. However, most plans have been put on hold due to the current crisis.
"I haven't seen anything like this crisis in over thirty years' experience I've had with General Electric. The crisis emerged in 2007 and what's happening now, I'm speaking of financing difficulties, is keeping money away from the segments where it's urgently needed, which will have a negative impact on economies," says Ferdinando (Nani) Beccalli-Falco, chairman and CEO of GE International.
Primarily, GE is present in Romania with operations carried out through GE Money, GE Energy and GE Healthcare. Last year, the company generated over 200m euros from domestic operations.
Since it arrived on the Romanian market, the US giant has invested around 800m dollars and has around 1,300 employees.
"We'll see the crisis make an impact on the Romanian market, as well, though economies of this region are more protected. For the time being, we've made no decision regarding the 100m-dollar plant we want to build in the region. We're delaying this decision indefinitely. As regards the medium-term investment plan for Romania, these programmes will be carried out at a slower rate. Like in the case of hiring, recruitment programmes will be carried out at a slower rate," says Beccalli.
According to him, crisis effects are almost impossible to predict, but company plans will change depending on crisis duration. "If the fallout of this crisis last beyond 2010, investments will be significantly reconfigured, but if we see the impact ease up starting next year, I believe current plans will not suffer major changes," Beccalli adds.
Beccalli says GE Money's operations are protected domestically
