Ahn Soong-bum, 53, former chairman of Royal Dutch Shell Korea, will lead General Electric’s global growth offshore and marine business, whose global headquarters will be stationed in Korea, GE said. He was also named general manager for GE’s power conversion business in Korea.

The company said in a statement that it expects Ahn to create synergy effects with other regional headquarters by using the competitiveness of the power conversion business in Korea and to build strategic relationships with global clients in the offshore and marine sector.

GE, which provides global clients with key parts for marine business, such as engines and distribution transformers for drill ships, floating production, storage and offloading units and LNG carriers, chose Korea as its global headquarters for the offshore and marine business last Wednesday.

Korea is the global leader in the shipbuilding and offshore business sectors. In particular, Korea takes about 40 percent of the global offshore market, which was worth $7 billion last year.

Ahn attained his bachelor’s degree from West Point and received a master’s degree in East Asian Studies from Harvard University.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)