Maputo, July 26 (IANS): More than 100 business people, mostly of Asian origin, have left Mozambique due to heightened insecurity caused by a wave of kidnappings in the country over the past 12 years, said a report by the state news agency AIM on Friday.

The departure of these businesspeople has resulted in financial losses amounting to billions of dollars, said Pedro Baltazar, head of security department of Mozambican Confederation of Business Associations (CTA), quoted by the report.

Baltazar told reporters in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, on Thursday that the phenomenon of kidnappings is leading to the creation of an army of unemployed, Xinhua news agency reported.

"With each kidnapping, each time a businessman leaves Mozambique, workers become unemployed. The labor market is severely affected", he said, quoted by the report.

Baltazar said that in recent times, the business sector has been engaging in advocacy aimed at eliminating kidnappings, through a Public-Private dialogue which involves the government at all levels to tackle the problem.

According to Baltazar, the approaches to eradicating kidnappings, including a camera surveillance system in the major cities like Maputo and Matola, have been recommended to the government in the ongoing consultation with the members of the CTA, the main employers' association in the country.

The government has been talking about the need to increase investment in the Mozambican defence and security forces, as well as setting up a specialist anti-kidnapping brigade within the police force.

However, despite repeated promises, these measures have not been implemented and the country's cities continue to face kidnappings in broad daylight, said the report.

According to the CTA, the kidnappings in the country in the past 12 years are harming the economy severely, which means that it has become more urgent than ever to put an end to this phenomenon.