GE helps to build sustainable infrastructure with Korean partners

Sep 27, 2013 5:30 PM ET
Campaign: GE Citizenship

GE Korea and its partners work together for a sustainable future.

“We are committed to learning, sharing and growing with partners and customers in Korea and around the globe,” stresses Chris Khang, president and CEO of GE Korea, emphasizing the importance of responding to the nation’s complex challenges through collaboration.

While Korea’s top priority of economic growth has led to rapid industrialization and urbanization, the nation is still facing challenges around economic prosperity and sustainable development. Under the new leadership of the country’s first female president, sworn into office in February 2013, the administration is addressing main economic challenges such as building stronger infrastructure, encouraging the growth of Korea’s small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs), and creating job opportunities.

Since its official launch in 1976, GE Korea has partnered with large local companies in such areas as power, aviation and healthcare to build stronger infrastructure in Korea and pursue mutual growth around the globe. GE provides partners with technology, global market access, and management best practices, while Korean players allow GE to enter local market and leverage local best practices.

As of today, GE Ultrasound Korea partners with over 120 local suppliers, resulting in shared growth. In cooperation with local suppliers, who maintain defect rates below the global standard and on-time deliveries, GE Ultrasound Korea has grown 30% every year since 2009 and manufactures a third of GE Healthcare’s ultrasound devices worldwide.

These products are both helping the local and global challenges of access to quality healthcare, while GE Ultrasound Korea is creating jobs and nourishing R&D talent within the Korean healthcare industry.

 “GE provides us invaluable opportunity to utiliza our expertise in electronics manufacturing services and shares our commitment to create better health for more people in Korea as well as in international markets,” Myung Wook Kim, CEO of PJ Electronics Co. Ltd., explained. PJ Electronics has been GE Healthcare Korea’s supplier since 1997 for high-level assembly of ultrasound devices and was named “GE Healthcare Supplier of the Year” in 2011.

GE Lighting has also built long-term partnerships with local SMEs, offering energy-efficient lighting products for commercial, municipal and residential customers.                                                                                                                                          

One of our most successful long-term suppliers, Hyosun Electric Co., Ltd.—the first company to mass-produce compact fluorescent lamps in Korea—has produced more than 10 million units of GE lighting products over the past 10 years and helped GE Lighting Korea to make a smooth landing in the consumer sector.

“We have been able to enhance our competitiveness and grow bigger by meeting the standards of GE in technology and quality,” said Hyun Ju Park, CEO of Hyosun Electric.

As Korea continues to evolve, it will be able to support more stable and durable economic growth.

Through quality products and close collaboration, we believe that GE can play an important role in facilitating Korea’s key economic agendas of building stronger infrastructure, encouraging the growth of SMEs and creating job opportunities to develop a more sustainable future for the nation.