GE Healthcare, one of the most renowned medical device manufacturers in the world with achievements including the world’s first commercialized digital breast tomosynthesis, which changed the paradigm of breast cancer diagnosis, has announced its plan to invest USD 180 million (approx. 200 billion KRW) in Gyeonggi province’s Seongnam city for the purposes of establishing R&D and mammography device manufacturing facilities.

Gyeonggi province government announced on December 17 that the investment agreement with GE Healthcare had been signed at the JW Marriot Hotel Seoul. In attendance at the signing ceremony was Kim Moon-soo, the governor of Gyeonggi Province, Tom Gentile, President of GE Healthcare, Laurent Rotival, President of GE Healthcare Korea, Sang-jik Yoon, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Jae-myung Lee, Mayor of Seongnam city and other key figures.
This five-party agreement involving GE Healthcare, GE Healthcare Korea, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Gyeonggi province and Seongnam city enables GE Healthcare to cooperate with its existing branch, GE Ultrasound Korea in Seongnam city, to establish an R&D center and mammography devices manufacturing facility.
With the ‘Made in Korea’ technology and products to be born from this investment, GE Healthcare plans to cope with global demand from the related market that has grown to about 1 trillion KRW.

More than 95% of the mammography devices to be manufactured from the facility will be exported to the U.S. or Europe, allowing for greater export expansion as well as serving as an opportunity for the global recognition of Korean manufacturing capabilities of medical devices.
Especially since GE Healthcare will be supplied with more than 90% of the parts from Korean SMBs, this investment is also expected to be a basis of qualitative and quantitative growth of the Korean medical device market. The new R&D center will need about 80 top professionals with master or doctor’s degree in the related fields, contributing to the development of the human resource in Korea for R&D of medical devices.

Tom Gentile, president of GE Healthcare explained the background situation of this investment: “Korea has been a top candidate for this investment due to its excellent medical infrastructure such as advanced medial professionals and institutions, as well as competitive SMBs with R&D competence that rapidly come up with innovative technologies and manufacturing capability to cope with a global demand.”
A Gyeonggi province official stated, “This investment is expected to turn the province into the Mecca of advanced medical technology in the future. The province’s government will do its utmost to prevent any potential difficulties with this project by GE Healthcare.”

Established in Seongnam city in 1994, GE Ultrasound Korea is the biggest ultrasound technology R&D and manufacturing base responsible for more than one third of the total global output of ultrasound equipment. Recently about 10 billion KRW was invested for expansion of its R&D facility in May of this year, and its completion early next year will enable its manufacturing capability to double from the current output by the year 2017.