- Company to strengthen localization initiatives in energy, healthcare, transport and infrastructure aligned with Turkey's Vision 2023
- Strong growth environment encourages long-term business partnerships
Istanbul, Turkey; June 11, 2012: GE (NYSE: GE) today further underlined its commitment to Turkey with planned investments of US$900 million over the next three years. GE's investment commitment draws on the robust opportunities offered by the fast-growing Turkish economy and complements the country's infrastructure development plans in line with its Vision 2023.
The planned investments in Turkey are in aviation, energy, healthcare, transport and infrastructure development, and underscore a long relationship with GE first establishing a presence in Turkey in 1948. The investments will enable, GE to further strengthen its partnerships in the country, and drive localized innovation and R&D to promote sustainable development.
John Rice, Vice Chairman of GE, said: "Turkey is one of the most promising markets in the region, with a strong entrepreneurial community, a large pool of talented youth and human capital, and an open mind to innovation. GE was one of the first industrial foreign investors in the country and over the decades we have focused on establishing long term partnerships with Turkey's public and private sector leaders to both meet their growth goals and encourage the social and economic development of the nation.
"Turkey's development goals are a perfect fit with GE's competencies. With Turkey embarking on a number of initiatives to achieve its Vision 2023 to become one of the world's top ten economies, we see strong growth opportunities, especially in supporting the current focus on infrastructure development."
With six facilities and over 600 employees, GE today powers nearly 25 percent of Turkey's electricity needs; 60 percent of the airplanes in the country have GE engines and some 20,000 GE Healthcare technologies are used daily across various hospitals. GE's new investments will strengthen the company's partnerships in these key growth areas, and in turn, contribute to creating new opportunities for the Turkish people.
One of the focal areas of the planned investments will be to boost localized innovation to serve specific market needs; a recognition of the changing nature of innovation and the importance of partnerships.
GE's footprint in Turkey, following the first significant investment to set up a light bulb factory in association with the Koc Group in 1948, now includes significant relationships and partnerships in aviation, energy, lighting, healthcare, transportation and R&D.
- Aviation: GE Aviation has a strong relationship with Turkey's airlines and the Turkish Armed Forces. Turkish Airlines operates 12 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft powered by ecomagination certified GE90-115B engines provide highly reliable, fuel-and emission-efficient power.GE also manufactures aircraft engine parts and components through its joint venture, Tusas Engine Industries (TEI). A high technology investment in partnership with the Turkish Government, TEI has become the foundation for the aircraft engine industry in the country, and is today a world-class facility with nearly 1,200 employees. Today, TEI produces more than 650 different parts for military and civil aircraft engines, and provides maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services as well as engine assembly and test work on various engines.
- Energy: GE has established long-term partnerships in the energy sector. ENKA Power, a leading local independent power producer, has invested in 10 GE9FA gas turbines with which it powers close to 15 percent of the country's electricity generation in its three plants in Adapazari, Gebze and Izmir. In the last three years, GE's newly developed efficiency upgrades were implemented on these gas turbines. The upgrades support ENKA to meet the terms of Turkey's new energy initiative to improve efficiency and productivity, by increasing the total output of five combined-cycle blocks by about 35 MW, enough to power an additional 150,000 Turkish households, and reduce the carbon emissions by one percent per megawatt produced.
GE Energy has also joined GAMA Holding AS to invest in energy and water projects in Turkey and the surrounding region. GE now holds 50 percent of the equity in GAMA Holding AŞ' subsidiary GAMA Enerji AŞ.
GE and Turkish project developer MetCap Energy Investments have announced plans to develop the world's first Integrated Renewables Combined Cycle plant, based on GE's new FlexEfficiency* 50 technology. By designing the plant from a total equipment and control systems perspective and utilizing the flexibility of the FlexEfficiency technology, engineers were able to seamlessly integrate natural gas, wind and solar thermal power. The MetCap and GE alliance sets a new global standard for the efficient integration of natural gas and renewable energy.
Supporting Turkey's Vision 2023 to enhance wind generation capabilities, GE is working with its global tower and blade suppliers to set up partnerships with Turkish companies to manufacture wind turbine towers and blades in Turkey. With this, nearly half the cost associated with a GE wind turbine can be addressed in the country itself.
- Lighting: GE Lighting was established with local partners as the first foreign joint venture company in 1948. Today, GE supplies over 1,000 different types of energy-efficient lamps, luminaires and LED systems to meet the challenging requirements of the local market. GE Lighting was selected for major stadiums to install indoor and outdoor lighting in Istanbul.
- Healthcare: With about 25 years of operations in Turkey, GE Healthcare is committed to working with healthcare providers to support the country's growing healthcare demand and is today the partner of choice to many of the country's most influential healthcare institutions. Strategically, Turkey serves as the headquarters for GE Healthcare's 84-country emerging markets region -- Eastern & Africa Growth Markets (EAGM) - covering Russia and the CIS, Turkey & Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, with Karim Karti as President & CEO for GE Healthcare - EAGM. Over the years, GE Healthcare has demonstrated its advanced competencies in offering localized turnkey solutions for the healthcare sector of the country, with modern equipment, service excellence and localized research capabilities. Among the various partnerships, GE provided the full basket of advanced medical equipment for the Florence Nightingale Group. Its strategic alliance with Medicheck provides a range of molecular diagnostic solutions including radiopharmaceuticals manufactured in Turkey to reduce radiopharmaceutical cost by up to 50 percent. Over 30 different types of healthymagination certified products of GE Healthcare are today provided across various medical facilities.
- Transportation: In Turkey, GE Transportation has a strategic partnership with TÜLOMSAŞ, the local leader in locomotives manufacturing and maintenance, which supplies the PowerHaul locomotives, GE's most technologically advanced, fuel-efficient and low emissions diesel electric freight locomotive to date. The partnership is a good example how GE fosters economic development by localizing manufacturing and transferring world-class skills and knowledge to local partners all while promoting good governance and quality. GE provides TÜLOMSAŞ with leading technology and components to assemble GE's PowerHaul series locomotives in Turkey for the European, Middle Eastern and North African markets. The first GE PowerHaul locomotive assembled in Turkey from components manufactured at GE's plant in Erie, Pennsylvania, USA, premiered in 2011. This year, five locomotives are being produced for European customers. Once in full production, the expected volume will average 50 to 100 locos per year, and will drive US$1.5 billion of exports from Turkey over ten years, while selling over 300 units to Europe, North Africa and Middle East, in addition to manufacturing locos for Turkish Railways. These locos are expected to drive over US$600 million revenue potential for TÜLOMSAŞ and create and sustain over 160 jobs.
- Research & Development -- As part of GE's commitment to developing innovative products to match our customers' needs, GE conducts extensive research and development in Turkey and works with the Turkish government, research and development institutes and universities. GE operates the Marmara Technology Center, an aviation engineering center for process and inspection technologies; and has formed an alliance with the Tusas Engine Industries and GE MTC for the Turkey Technology Center (TTC) for R&D, design and development of new technologies for aircraft engines. At TTC, more than 200 highly skilled Turkish engineers participate in the design and development of GE Aviation's aircraft, marine and industrial engines. A Repair Development Center opened this year to serve GE's Aviation and Energy business by developing advanced repair technologies.
GE is working with Turkish EPC partners in the region, and looks to expand the partnerships across the Middle East, Europe, Russia and Central Asia, reiterating the country's appeal as a 'capability hub' in the region.