General Electric (GE) Building $550 Million Brazilian Research Center

With an eye toward expanding its presence in Brazil, General Electric (NYSE:GE) announced it will be building a $550 million research center in Brazil, focusing on IT, energy and health sectors.

The center will be built in the state of Rio de Janeiro, according to Brazilian Science and Technology Minister Aloizio Mercadante, who attended a meeting with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and GE chairman and CEO, Jeffrey Immelt.

It will take approximately 2 years for the center to become operational, according to president of a GE Brazilian subsidiary, Joao Geraldo Ferreira.

An estimated 1,000 new jobs will be created from the project, with about 200 of them for researchers.