And as I was walking through the plant, you guys had put up some handy signs so I knew what I was looking at.  (Laughter.)  And I noticed on all of them they said, this is going to Kuwait; this is going to India; this is going to Saudi Arabia. 

That's where the customers are, and we want to sell them products made here in America.  That’s why I met with Chinese leaders this week, and Jeff joined me at the state dinner.

During those meetings, we struck a deal to open Chinese markets to our products.  They're selling here, and that's fine.  But we want to sell there.  We want to open up their markets so that we got two-way trade, not just one-way trade.  (Applause.) 

So the deals we struck are going to mean more than $45 billion in new business for American companies -– $45 billion -- that translates into 235,000 new jobs for American workers.  (Applause.)

And that’s also why I fought hard to negotiate a new trade deal with South Korea that will support more than 70,000 American jobs.  That’s why I traveled to India a few months ago -- and Jeff was there with us -- where our businesses were able to reach agreement to export $10 billion in goods and services to India.  And that’s going to lead to another 50,000 jobs here in the United States.  (Applause.)

Part of the reason I wanted to come to this plant is because this plant is what that trip was all about.  As part of the deal we struck in India, GE is going sell advanced turbines -- the ones you guys make -- to generate power at a plant in Samalkot, India -- Samalkot, India.  Most of you hadn’t heard of Samalkot -- (laughter) -- but now you need to know about it, because you’re going to be selling to Samalkot, India.  And that new business halfway around the world is going to help support more than 1,200 manufacturing jobs and more than 400 engineering jobs right here in this community -- because of that sale.  (Applause.)

So it’s a perfect example of why promoting exports is so important.  That’s why I’ve set a goal of doubling American exports within five years.  And we’re on track to do it.  We’re already up 18 percent and we’re just going to keep on going, because we’re going to sell more and more stuff all around the world.  (Applause.) 

When a company sells products overseas, it leads to hiring on our shores.  The deal in Samalkot means jobs in Schenectady.  That’s how we accelerate growth.  That’s how we create opportunities for our people.  This is how we go from an economy that was powered by what we borrow and what we consume -- that’s what happened over the last 10 years.  What was driving our economy was we were spending a lot on credit cards.  Everybody was borrowing a lot.  The Chinese were selling a lot to us.  Folks were selling a lot to us from all over the world.  We’ve got to reverse that.  We want an economy that’s fueled by what we invent and what we build.  We’re going back to Thomas Edison’s principles.  We’re going to build stuff and invent stuff.  (Applause.)  

Now, nobody understands this better than Jeff Immelt.  He understands what it takes for America to compete in the global economy.  As he mentioned, I’ve appreciated his wisdom during these past two years.  We had a difficult, difficult crisis on our hands.  It was a few days after I took office that I assembled a group of business leaders, including Jeff, to form a new advisory board, because at that time the economy was in a freefall and we were facing the prospects of another Great Depression, with ripple effects all around the world.  It wasn’t just the United States.  The entire world economy was contracting.  At such a dangerous moment, it was essential that we heard voices and ideas from business leaders and from experts who weren’t part of the usual Washington crowd.

And I tasked Jeff and the other advisors with one mission -- help to steer our nation from deep recession into recovery; help take the economy from one that’s shrinking to one that’s growing.  And over the past two years, I’ve been very grateful for their advice. 

And I especially want to commend the man who chaired the panel, one of the nation’s preeminent economists, the former head of the Federal Reserve, Paul Volcker, because he offered unvarnished advice and he wasn’t afraid to counter the conventional wisdom.  He did a great service to this country. 

In fact, it was six months ago today that I signed into law a set of financial reforms to protect consumers and prevent future financial crises and put an end to taxpayer-funded bailouts -– and that's an achievement in which Paul Volcker was instrumental.  So we're very proud of him for that work.  (Applause.)