President George W Bush has visited Caterpillar's manufacturing facility in East Peoria, Illinois, and commended Caterpillar for demonstrating that US companies could "successfully compete on the world stage".

A Caterpillar statement said President Bush was "impressed with the quality of Cat machines and with the American workers who built them". Bush talked about how communities like Peoria contributed to the strength of the American economy.

Caterpillar vice president operations division Bob Williams was delighted.

"Today's presidential visit was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our employees. Many of our employees got to meet the President and he praised them for their hard work building Caterpillar's signature product, the track-type tractor. These machines are the workhorse behind some major construction projects. They are a strong export product for our company."

Caterpillar chairman and CEO Jim Owens said Caterpillar had benefited from US government policies.

"The US and global economies have benefited from the President's pro-growth tax and free trade policies, which have stimulated strong economic growth. I thank 'team Caterpillar' for representing the competitive American spirit and positioning our company to take advantage of the opportunity created."

He said Caterpillar exported more than USD10 billion in machines and products made at the East Peoria facilities in 2006, a company record.

Caterpillar reported 2006 sales and revenues of USD41,517 billion and a profit of USD3,537 billion, an increase from 2005 of USD683 million due to "strong cash flow to fund growth in capacity, aggressive new product development, completion of the acquisition of Progress Rail and a USD3 billion stock buy-back".

The Caterpillar statement said despite a sharp decline in two key North American industries, on-highway truck engines and US housing, and an expected reduction in dealer inventories, it was projecting another record year in 2007.