Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, best known for its Panasonic brand, has pledged a total of 60 million yen (£313,000) through an employee matching gift campaign to boost support for the tsunami relief programme. It aims to raise this to 100 million yen (£522,000).

The company will match contributions made by approximately 290,000 employees of the Matsushita Group worldwide, up to a corporate contribution of 50 million yen.

The funds will be donated to affected countries through the UNICEF offices in Asia.