Foreign firms evacuate employees, families from Tokyo after quake+

TOKYO, March 19 Kyodo -
A growing number of foreign companies are evacuating employees and their families from Tokyo and shifting headquarters operations to Osaka and other areas following last week's devastating earthquake that damaged a nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.
Many foreign employees of major German automakers Daimler AG, BMW AG and Volkswagen AG, as well as their families, have returned home, with BMW transferring part of its headquarters operations to Kobe, where the automaker has training facilities.
''European people are not accustomed to earthquakes and are worried about the nuclear power plant troubles,'' a Volkswagen official said.
Swedish casual wear chain H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB has closed nine stores in the Kanto region and shifted its main operations to Osaka.
The company will arrange accommodation upon request for 800 sales employees and their families to stay temporarily in the Kansai region.
Philip Morris Japan KK, the second-largest tobacco company in Japan, has shut down its headquarters in Tokyo and moved some operations to Osaka.
U.S. news agency Dow Jones is continuing operations in Japan, but it set up an office in Osaka on Thursday and some of its reporters are working from there, it said.
In the insurance industry, some executives of American Home Assurance Co., an affiliate of U.S. insurance giant American Insurance Group Inc., have moved to Naha in Okinawa Prefecture, where the company has a call center.
A subsidiary of German insurance firm Munich Re has temporarily closed its Tokyo office, while some executives have left Japan for Singapore.
The International Bankers Association issued a statement Tuesday denying rumors that employees of member banks have evacuated from Japan, but association member Deutsche Bank group has asked some employees to leave the country.
BNP Paribas, which has been shifting much of its operations to Osaka from Tokyo, is following suit.
''As fears about the nuclear power plant troubles remain, employees are going overseas from Kansai airport. The departures are likely to peak this weekend,'' a BNP Paribas official said.