Heiner Markhoff named General Manager, GE

BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS – June 8, 2006 - Heiner Markhoff has been named general manager of GE - Plastics, Europe, reporting directly to Charlene Begley, President and Chief Executive Officer of GE - Plastics. In this role he will be responsible for business and commercial operations across the region.

Heiner replaces Golnar Motahari Pour who has been named President & CEO, GE Bayer Silicones, a joint venture between GE Advanced Materials and Bayer. Both moves are effective June 1.

"I'm pleased to welcome Heiner back to GE - Plastics. His experience in creating and driving growth strategies in Europe, as well as his expertise in the plastics and chemical industries, will be invaluable as we drive exciting growth opportunities,” said Begley. “With untapped emerging markets and newly-commercialized product translations at his disposal Heiner will bring a renewed energy and focus to this important market.”

During the past four years as Chief Executive Officer of GE Bayer Silicones - and as a key leader in GE’s European Silicones business for most of the past decade - Heiner has played an instrumental role in growing that business’ revenues from $150 million in 1995 to $800 million for 2006. As one of the architects of the GE Bayer Silicones joint venture, he helped fuel growth by enabling local European fulfillment capability.

Prior to leading GE Bayer Silicones, Heiner was Automotive General Manager for GE - Plastics, with responsibility for the Automotive business in North America. Earlier, he served as the Sales Director for GE Bayer Silicones in Europe. Other roles included manager of Corporate Business Development, European marketing director for GE Silicones, and positions with Booz-Allen & Hamilton, Inc., and Sugro Deutschland, both in Germany. Jeff Immelt named him as one of GE’s “Growth Heroes” in 2005.

Heiner studied economics at the University of Münster and completed his degree in business administration at the University of Köln.