1971

Panasonic, having reinforced the corporate foundation in connection with its 50th anniversary, began running its operations from an increasingly international perspective.
In 1969, looking to the next half-century of operations, President Masaharu Matsushita emphasized the importance of contributing to worldwide prosperity and engaging in world-class research and development. Stressing that it was an ideal time to do something for the world, Chairman Konosuke Matsushita advised management that they had to replace their current way of doing business-one set of policies for maintaining the Japanese domestic market, and another for increasing exports-with a unified global perspective. At the beginning of 1970, he declared his belief that Japan was being entrusted with the role of world leader through the 1970s. He said that the company should develop the capacity to help fulfill this responsibility.
The company started to build up its international capabilities by expanding support operations for overseas business and developing staff capable of handling international operations. One such step was to register the company for trading of its shares on tie New York Stock Exchange in 1971. By joining the stock market, the company gained in prestige and entered the community of international enterprises.