OSAKA (Kyodo) Sanyo Electric Co. said Friday it will set up two overseas marketing companies and a division at its headquarters April 1 to supervise new and existing overseas marketing arms.

The planned units are Sanyo HA ASEAN Corp. in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Sanyo Gulf Free Zone Establishment in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, the maker of household electrical appliances said.

Under the new marketing regime, Sanyo will seek to bolster sales and profits in Asia and the Middle East because its domestic sales operations have been slumping due partly to falling appliance prices, Sanyo officials said.

Sanyo Chairman Satoshi Iue told a news conference, "The Middle East will become a large market as it is recovering from the aftermath of the Iraq war."