Toshiba Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. announced Wednesday they will set up two joint ventures in April, each dealing with a different type of electronic display.

In one, the two manufacturers will integrate their liquid crystal display operations in a move aimed at cutting development and production costs.

They also plan to transfer development and production of LCDs to the joint company, which will be owned 60 percent by Toshiba and the remainder by Matsushita. Its capitalization has yet to be decided, they said.

The new company projects sales of 340 billion yen in 2002, which would give it about a 12 percent share of Japan's LCD market, the second largest after the 22.2 percent held by Sharp Corp.

Toshiba currently has a 6.9 percent share, the fifth largest, while Matsushita is the sixth largest with 5 percent.

The company's new factory is now being built in Singapore.

The deal comes as profit margins decline at Japanese LCD makers due to a flood of lower-priced imports, especially from South Korea and Taiwan.

In a separate statement, Toshiba and Matsushita said they will establish a 50-50 venture in Osaka to procure parts and materials for their production of color cathode ray tubes.

Other details of the venture, including its capitalization, have yet to be decided, the two companies said.

The joint venture will play a central role in making procurement contracts throughout the world to streamline both companies' CRT operations.

In a joint news conference, Toshiba President Tadashi Okamura said the LCD joint venture will seek to speed up development of advanced LCD technology and increase cost efficiency through mass production.

Matsushita President Kunio Nakamura said the deal will help the company increase its competitiveness as the global information technology slump hits Japanese electronics makers hard.

"As Asian companies are becoming major players in the LCD market, we need to reduce costs," he said. "Production of low-cost LCDs consequently makes our products, including TV sets with LCD panels and mobile communication tools, more competitive."

The two companies will neither reduce employees nor close factories by integrating their LCD operations, executives of the two companies said.