OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Microsoft Co. will create a joint Internet portal site to be launched in October, the two companies said Monday.

Both firms will continue to maintain their own respective portal sites in addition to the new portal, a jump station to the Internet with multiple links that users can set as their start page.

By combining the technologies and services of the two companies, the new site could satisfy customers with various needs, they said. Details of the site -- Panasonic Hi-HO powered by MSN -- however, have yet to be finalized, they said.

Matsushita's network planning office manager Hideaki Yamagami said the new site will help expand electronic commerce, considered to have a large growth potential in the near future. Matsushita has a shopping site within its own portal site Panasonic Hi-HO.