Tokyo, May 15: Some of industrial giants and biggest banks in Japan and France said on Friday they had halted their operations in Indonesia and were taking steps to protect employees and clients from the violence there. Some have closed offices and factories, while others have advised their Japanese employees to stay home and their families to evacuate from Indonesia.Among the top Japanese firms affected are Toyota Motor Corp Hitachi Ltd, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd (BTM). Travel agencies such as Japan Travel Bureau, the nation's largest, have cancelled tours to Indonesia, which has been the scene of riots over President Suharto's leadership since earlier this week.French oil group Total said on Friday it had hired a charter plane to evacuate the families of its expatriate personnel from Jakarta after three days of unrest in the Indonesian capital.Japan's biggest carmaker, Toyota, said it had stopped production at two factories it jointly set up with Indonesia'sAstra International as of Thursday. Mitsubishi Motors Corp and Daihatsu Motor Co Ltd also said they had halted operations at their plants in Indonesia. None of their plants were damaged by the rioters, the automakers said. They had decided to halt production as workers could notcome to factories and supplies from parts makers were hard to come by due to the closure of some roads in Jakarta.Electronics giant Hitachi said it halted operations at its two Indonesian factories on Friday to ensure the safety of workers, following up on action taken on Thursday when it told family members of its Japanese employees in Indonesia to evacuate outside of the country. "Many Japanese firms have stopped their operations andadvised their workers to stay home," a Hitachi spokesman said.Sharp Corp also said it had closed its office and one of its two Indonesian electronics plants. The office and the plant are in Jakarta. "The situation has become worse with escalating riots andrising crime. We halted operations onThursday afternoon and decided to stop operations for all of Friday," a Sharp spokesman said.The manufacturers said the suspension of operations was a temporary measure. They said they had not decided how long the closures would last and would carefully watch the situation. Japanese trading firms Marubeni Corpand Nissho Iwai Corp said they would postpone petrochemical projects in Indonesia.A spokesman for French bank Societe Generale said his firm had four expatriate staff in Jakarta, and had been leaving them to decide whether to open their office or not. "But we are seriously considering closing," he added.
