GE plans to open new research centre in the developing world

General Electric is to open another research centre in the developing world, following similar ventures in China and India.

GE International's chief executive, Ferdinando Beccalli-Falco, told a conference in London last week that the US jet-engine-to-TV-company is close to releasing more details on the project. "There is going to be another one of these emerging countries that is going to receive an investment from our side," he said. "We are going to make some kind of official announcement in a relatively short period of time."

Sources close to the project said the centre will support both the energy and healthcare divisions of the company, similar to the setup at GE's existing research centres in Asia, New York and Munich. The company employs 323,000 people around the world.

Industry analysts said GE's results have recently been "more upbeat," and that the research centre "made sense given their geographic position."