Matsushita Electric Industrial Co said it will set up a research center in Vietnam to develop key software installed in cellular phones and flat-panel televisions.

Matsushita, maker of the Panasonic brand, plans to begin operation of the new company, the Panasonic R&D Center Vietnam Co, by the end of April in Hanoi, the company said.

Matsushita will invest 500,000 usd to create the facility, which will develop and design system chips and control software for Matsushita plants around the world, the company said.

The company also sees Vietnam as a growing market, Matsushita spokesman Akira Kadota said.

'Vietnam has the potential to become the second China, where the open socialist economy could create a larger market rather than just serving as a producing center,' he said.

Nineteen employees will initially work at the center, with the number possibly going up to around 200 in the future, Kadota said.

In a bid to recruit newly graduated engineers in Vietnam, Matsushita said it will also send Japanese technicians to train workers and start a software development course at the Hanoi University of Technology.

Source: forbes.com