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600 U.S. JOBS are involved in the export of ten fully-assembled GE Model C30Aci locomotives and U.S.-manufactured components for high- value locomotive kits will be shipped from GE's Erie, Pa. manufacturing facility to TRE in South Africa. Ex-Im Bank is providing a loan guarantee to support the sale. Pictured above is the one of the first two assembled locomotives from Erie that were introduced to the public February 21 during a trackside ceremony in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo courtesy GE Transportation)

WASHINGTON, D.C. —- The jobs of some 600 employees at GE Transportation's facilities in Pennsylvania and its suppliers around the country are being supported by the company's sale of locomotives to South Africa's Transnet, Limited. The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has approved a loan guarantee in excess of $100 million as part of the sale.

The Bank has also approved a preliminary commitment for over $200 million for purchases of additional locomotives by Transnet. Ex-Im Bank financing will support a partnership between GE Transportation, Transnet and Transnet Rail Engineering (TRE).

GE Transportation said the contract with Transnet will create or sustain over 600 jobs at GE's factories in Erie and Grove City, Pa. and at GE suppliers around the United States.

Ex-Im Bank financing for Transnet, the first of what we hope will be many more to come, is a win-win for both South Africa and the United States. This sale ensures high skill, high wage jobs will remain here in the U.S., and it strengthens the commercial ties between our two countries, said Fred P. Hochberg, chairman and president of Ex-Im Bank.

Ten fully-assembled GE Model C30ACi locomotives and U.S.-manufactured components for high- value locomotive kits will be shipped from GE's Erie, Pa. manufacturing facility to TRE in South Africa. The first two assembled locomotives from Erie were introduced to the public last Monday during a trackside ceremony in Pretoria, South Africa. GE reports that three C30ACi locomotives can haul the same amount of freight as four older locomotives and save approximately 600,000 liters of fuel a year while lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

The GE-Transnet-Ex-Im Bank partnership is a significant investment in job development, economic advancement and infrastructure grown on both sides of the Atlantic, said Lorenzo Simonelli, president and CEO of GE Transportation.

Ex-Im Bank developed a customized, tailor-made financing solution that was designed specifically to meet the financing needs of Transnet and provide financing for both the work performed by GE in the United States and for TRE in South Africa. Ex-Im Bank's Transportation Division processes applications for railroad export financing, as well as other transportation exports. Barclays Bank PLC, London is the guaranteed lender.

Transnet is a large South African rail, port and pipeline company, headquartered in Johannesburg. The company's stock is owned by the Department of Public Enterprises of the South African government.

During the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2011, the Bank approved $8 billion in total financing authorizations, supporting nearly $9.3 billion in export sales. The sales in the first quarter in turn support approximately 66,000 American jobs in communities across the country.

During the FY2011 first quarter small business authorizations rose over 22 percent, and new customer volume rose 55 percent, over the same period of 2010. In Fiscal Year 2010 overall, the Bank authorized a record high of approximately $24.5 billion in loans, guarantees and insurance, supporting about 230,000 American jobs. For more information on Ex-Im Bank, visit www.exim.gov.