Most employees of the 23 Japanese companies doing business in Pakistan had been evacuated by the time U.S. and British forces launched their strikes against Afghanistan late Sunday, but workers and their families in Iran and Central Asia have not yet been moved.
Suzuki Motor Corp. said nine Japanese employees from its auto and motorcycle assembly plant in Karachi have left the country, adding it plans to keep the plant running for a while.
Honda Motor Co. also said 12 employees from Japan working at its Lahore plant have been evacuated. Toyota Motor Corp. has evacuated two employees.
Major contractor Taisei Corp. said six employees in charge of a tunnel project near Afghanistan have been moved to Islamabad. Taisei will let them return to Japan if the Japanese Embassy in Pakistan issues an evacuation order, it said.
Asahi Glass Co., which runs a joint chemical company in Karachi, has returned its representatives to Japan, while Nippon Sheet Glass Co. has brought its sole worker in Karachi back to Japan.
Major general trading houses have also withdrawn staff from Pakistan since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, although Itochu Corp. and Mitsui & Co. have employees and families remaining in Uzbekistan.
Other traders also said many employees are still in Iran and other nations in the Middle East.
Itochu is preparing to evacuate staff from Central Asia and the Middle East depending on developments in the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism, according to a company official.