“The idea of a single European energy market, a truly great vision yet difficult to accomplish,” Immelt said.
However, the idea of a creating a regional structure to include four or five countries united around Romania would be a more practical vision already set in motion, he added.
This is Immelt’s first visit to Romania and also the first visit of such a GE official still in office. The only GE executive to come to Bucharest was Jack Welch, Immelt’s predecessor, but he did it after retiring.
GE has an oil drill plant and an airplane component plant in Romania, which generate $100 million revenue. GE will also take over the energy business of France’s Alstom.
Immelt’s visit was not publicly announced so the agenda is unknown but it most likely included a review of General Electric’s companies in Romania.
Jeff Immelt attended a roundtable organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania (AmCham), along with regional heads of the company: Peter Stracar, CEO Central and Eastern Europe, Cristian Colteanu, chairman and CEO for Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova, and Gaetano Masssara, CEO Southeastern Europe.
The other participants to the roundtable at the Parliament Palace were representatives of the governmental institutions and energy companies including Emil Calota, vice-president of the energy market watchdog ANRE, Toni Teau, national grid company Transelectrica general manager, Petru Vaduva, general manager of Transgaz, Doina Vornicu, chief operating officer of CEZ, Dante Stein, advisor to the prime minister and deputy Iulian Iancu, chairman of the industry and service committee.
When one works in a company the size of GE, many tasks have to be delegated, but not global investments, because they are a symbol of the company. As a result, his presence in Romania is not a reason for worry but a good thing because it allows him to see, together with his team, what it means to invest in Romania, Immelt said during the meeting where ZF only had access for the first 15 minutes.
In a short speech, GE’s chairman and CEO talked about the transformation of the company from one that got 80% of its business from the US in the 1980s into a global entity, which gets 70% of its business from outside its home country. He also mentioned the challenges of the energy policy, and especially the need to balance low costs, environment protection, security and the need to create jobs.
He attended a number of meetings in Brussels early last week, which discussed the idea of a single European energy market, a truly great yet hard to accomplish vision. The idea of creating a regional structure of four or five countries united around Romania would be a more practical vision already set in motion, Immelt said. Therefore he believes there will be sub-segments of a European energy strategy that will develop over time, he added.
He concluded by expressing hope Romania would be the next investment destination for the company after Hungary and Poland.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)