Garanti to expand to Romania and Ukraine
General Electric (GE) is planning to develop Turkey’s Garanti Bank into a regional banking brand and aims to expand to Ukraine and Romania, Kürşat Özkan, Southwest Asia and Turkey director at GE told reporters Tuesday.
GE acquired 25.5 percent of Garanti Bank for $1.55 billion in August 2005 from Doğuş Group. “We are very pleased with Garanti’s performance and want to see the bank as a regional brand in the future,” Özkan said. “Garanti is one of the best banks not only in Turkey but in the whole world. This is the reason why we want to expand the strategic partnership and become a local bank in the region, by expanding in countries like Romania and Ukraine,” he added.
Focus on emerging infrastructure, health
GE will also focus on expanding its business in infrastructure and health sectors in emerging markets this year. The firm plans to invest $10-15 trillion in emerging markets infrastructure by 2012.
“Infrastructure is experiencing notable growth throughout emerging markets. Major projects in electricity, transport, water resources and roads are undertaken. Investments in locomotives include machinery for petroleum and oil, where new technology is needed. This is one of the areas we are looking into,” Özkan said.
“Health services, on the other hand, are strongly supported by the young demographics of emerging markets. We plan to focus on making equipment for the early prediction of long-term illnesses available in more secluded areas.”
GE is targeting to achieve a total turnover of $1.5 billion from its operations in Turkey this year. It is investing $50 million by 2010 in aerospace systems firm Tusaş, which had turnover of $250 million in 2007. GE has also launched a research and development project at its Marmara Technology Center. “We are building a new research center which will offer employment to 240 engineers, 25 of whom have been recruited already. Instead of being a financial one, this investment is focused on human resources,” said Özkan.
Source: Turkish Daily News