Friday June 24

GE to Open State-of-the-Art Business Services & Technology Solutions Center in Bucharest, Romania

GE's First Service Investment in Romania Will Support Customers Throughout Europe

BUCHAREST, Romania--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 24, 2005--Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu today announced that GE will locate its next Business Services & Technology Solutions Center in Bucharest. It becomes GE's second such center in Europe . The Romanian facility will handle a variety of complex finance & accounting, supply chain management, IT, engineering and customer service processes for GE and other blue chip clients across Europe .

In a written statement prior to the announcement, Prime Minister Tariceanu said: "We salute the Gecis ' decision to open a state-of-the-art Business Services & Technology Solutions Center in Bucharest . Having the biggest private company in the world by market value consider it profitable to make a greenfield investment in Romania is positive recognition of the policies that the Government has established to encourage the business environment. The flat tax, the highly skilled labor force, the forthcoming EU membership, as well as the firm measures taken in order to fight any potential unhealthy practices make Romania an ideal destination for investment."

Nani Beccalli-Falco , president and CEO, GE International, commended the government for creating the country's current positive business climate. "GE is very happy to announce our first major service investment here in Romania ," he said. "GE believes that our 21st century technology products and solutions, showcased at the GE Day we held yesterday in Bucharest , can help the region to develop and increase its competitiveness and support the process of upgrading Romania 's infrastructure in preparation for EU membership and further economic growth."

GE Regional Executive for Southeastern Europe Dan Ionescu added, "We see Romania playing a important role in GE's European expansion. The country offers an educated workforce, a solid IT infrastructure, growing engineering capacity, and improving transparency, all of which is increasing our confidence to continue investing and growing in the country."

Gecis in August will move into 4,000 sq.m . of modern office space in north Bucharest 's IRIDE Business Park , where there is capacity to expand to 8,000 sq.m . and up to 1,500 employees. Initial employment will be around 170.

"Our expansion into Romania is key to the value proposition we give our European customers, including unparalleled global delivery of services, the highest standards of process quality, and expertise in more than a dozen industry verticals," said Pramod Bhasin , president & CEO, GECIS Global. "I firmly believe that Romania will provide the intellectual talent we need to provide unparalleled process excellence to companies across Europe , making them more productive and enabling them to focus on their core competencies. We are tremendously excited to be here."

Bhasin said a growing roster of European companies, including market leaders in banking, pharmaceuticals, energy, and telecommunications, are signed or in negotiations to become clients of his company's global operations.