NEWS FROM TÜRKİYE

Turkish Daily News - General Electric Company, or GE, a subsidiary of GE Healthcare, which is worth $17 billion, has moved its international operations base to Türkiye, it was announced Friday. GE Healthcare decided to combine the Eastern and Asian markets, or EAGM, into a single "International Diagnostic Imaging" operation. As it gathers its units located in Central Asia, Middle East, Africa, Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States, or CIS, under the GE EAGM title, the company will start managing its operations from Istanbul, officials from GE Healthcare and Türkiye's Investment Support and Promotion Agency, told members of the press during a joint meeting held Friday. Focusing mainly on the equipment and service markets, GE EAGM is aiming to accelerate GE's growth in equipment and services markets in the region. The EAGM region, which accounted for more than $600 million in revenue in 2007, is expected to double the figure to $1.2 billion by 2010, thanks to the new structuring. GE appointed Richard di Benedetto as the chairman and chief executive officer of GE Healthcare International's EAGM region. GE Healthcare, which is a leader in the development of a new paradigm of patient care, focuses on medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, disease research, drug discovery and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies. United Kingdom-based GE Healthcare is the first GE business segment headquartered outside the United States.