GE’s Rachel Duan goes from problem solving in Puerto Rico to steering the iconic company’s global growth
- Shanghai native took charge of American industrial giant’s emerging-markets expansion as trade tensions escalated
- Unit aims to connect businesses, clients and partners with governments in China, Africa and the Middle East to develop big infrastructure projects
Driving the emerging-markets expansion of American industrial giant General Electric is no walk in the park.
But the 49-year-old charged with steering the iconic Fortune 500 company’s global growth seems unfazed by the scale of the task.
Shanghai native Rachel Duan, who took up the role in January, says simply that she draws on one of her biggest strengths – being able to “sort through the details and then quickly get to the strategic, important points”.
That skill will come in handy given that 70 per cent of General Electric’s (GE) business takes place outside the United States, and emerging markets now account for nearly 60 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product.
As president and chief executive of GE’s global growth organisation (GGO), Duan oversees all international markets outside the US and Europe – including many of the most challenging territories in the world.
It aims to link the company’s businesses – from health care to energy and aviation – its clients and partners with governments in China, Africa and the Middle East to develop some of the world’s biggest infrastructure projects.
