Asean an engine of growh

The Strait Times, By Yang Huiwen

Mr Jeffrey Immelt (left), chairman and chief executive of General Electric, the largest conglomerate in the United States, said the shape of the global economic recovery is still very much uncertain, but the good news is that Asia has decoupled from the US. --PHOTO: BT

MR JEFFREY Immelt, chairman and chief executive of General Electric, the largest conglomerate in the United States, said the shape of the global economic recovery is still very much uncertain, but the good news is that Asia has decoupled from the US.

'Free money, easy money has always been the elixir to keep the economy in recovery mode' as seen in previous recessions in the US, he said in a speech at a conference hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce held at Raffles Hotel.

'Once interest rates get to zero you can't go much lower than that, which is where we are right now. So the credit can't be liberally applied given the deficits the US has. So the question on the shape of the recovery remains to be seen.'

'There's reason to believe this recovery could look different than those in the past.'

But the 'good news is decoupling really has occured', he said. 'There are economic engines of growth emerging around the world and they are quite exciting and bigger than we thought,' he said citing China and Brazil as examples.

Mr Immelt, 50, who took over the helm from the legendary Jack Welch four days before the 9/11 attack on the US, said companies should position themselves where growth is available, and for GE it means having a greater presence in Asia.

'Probably 10 years ago, if you were to look at one of our strategic plans, we would predict the incredible demise of the Asean region.'

But far from that, Asean could be another engine of growth in the next five to 10 years.

'There's probably one or two meaningful engines of growth that are going to emerge out of the Asean region.'

'(Singapore) is a place where the government really has a vision and really execute on that vision.'

'Our investments in Malaysia have been successful. Five years ago we made some substantial invesmtnets in Vietnam which are proving to be very effective...it's time for us to make a bigger statement in Indonesia and see what happens'.

Mr Immelt said GE is in the process of hiring 1,000 sales people to boost sales in the west and north of China.

'How the Chinese economy does in the short-term is probably more important than sitting there praying for a robust recovery in the US,' he said.

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