In a bid to cope with the slumping demand for information technology products, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. on Wednesday announced a midterm business plan that calls for cutting 2,000 jobs by the end of March 2003 and considering the possibility of a tieup in the cell phone business.

In the current business year, it will cut 1,000 jobs and halt the operations of two semiconductor manufacturing lines in Japan, the major electronics maker said. It will then eliminate another 1,000 jobs at factories in the 2002 business year.

To reduce costs for the development of advanced mobile phones, the company is discussing possible partnerships with several domestic and foreign companies, said Michio Nakanishi, corporate senior vice president in charge of Mitsubishi's communication systems.

Other restructuring measures include a reduction of capital investment on semiconductor equipment by about 20 billion yen this business year. Mitsubishi President Ichiro Taniguchi said the firm needs to reform business structures to cope with the recent plunge in global demand for electronic devices and products.

However, he said the IT business will remain as a leading engine to promote corporate growth in the long run. Based on such expectations, the company set its worldwide sales target for IT-related businesses at 3 trillion yen in 2003, up from a projection of 2.2 trillion yen this year.

Its overseas businesses are expected to increase by 40 percent in 2003 from the current level.

Mitsubishi will try to raise a return-of-equity ratio to more than 10 percent as soon as possible, Taniguchi said. Its ROE -- a measurement to show how effectively shareholders' money is being employed -- is expected to come to 0.8 percent in the current business year.