Most of General Electric Co.`s production will be outside the United States by 2010, the Financial Times said recently.

GE is moving production to low-cost, fast-growing developing markets such as China and India to help lift earnings by at least 10 percent every year.

'We are trying to take advantage of the global factory,' Keith Sherin, finance director, said. 'We are a global company; we should have a supply chain that reflects our customer base.'

In addition, GE cited the lack of engineers in the United States as a reason for shifting production offshore.

GE, which has 160,000 on its U.S. payroll, currently makes about 41 percent of its products outside the United States.