The US$100 million center will be located on the Ilha do Bom Jesus peninsula and, when fully operational, will employ 200 researchers and engineers. Work at the center will focus on advanced technologies for the oil & gas, renewable energy, mining, rail and aviation industries. According to Joao Geraldo Ferreira, chief executive officer for GE Brazil, “The Global Research Center will offer local research and development services for our major Brazilian industry partners, including Petrobras, the fourth largest energy company in the world; Embraer, the main jet engine manufacturer in Brazil; VALE, the country’s largest mining company and the second largest mining company in the world; and countless other partners throughout Latin America.” Geraldo Ferreira said, “Brazil is one of the countries (Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, for example, are others) where we are pursuing this ‘company to country’ approach. GE may be a global company with global reach, but we also want to be local for the local people. Brazil, which accounts for some 40 percent of our Latin American revenue, is going to be a major proving ground for that initiative.” Other local efforts in Brazil, he said, include “opening our first healthcare plant in South America in the city of Contagem, Minas Gerais, where we already have lighting and transportation plants. The plant will initially produce X-ray and mammography equipment.”
