MANY have been the deterrents to large scale foreign investment in Pakistan. The deteriorating law and order which persisted for too long, particularly in Karachi and Sindh, was among them.

That problem in varied manifestations has emerged again assertively. And that is now the fall-out of the latest phase of the Afghan conflict following the ejection of the Taliban government with its Al Qaeda associates from Afghanistan.

The most outstanding example of lawlessness and disorder was the kidnapping and killing of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. What matters to the world is not his murder but also the savage manner he was killed and a video made of that and sent to the American consulate general, and how the body has become irrecoverable in a country in which the dead are formally and ceremonially buried.

Soon after that came the killing of 10 persons while at prayer at an Imambargah in the Punjab while 17 others were injured.

In quick succession to that came the murder of Dr Aley Sadar Zaidi, consultant of the Kidney Centre who had returned from the U.S. after ten years of study and practice there. He came here to serve his people but got killed by two motorcyclists with guns.

And on Thursday Dr Muzaffar Ahmed Samoo, in charge of the X-ray department of the Lyari hospital was shot dead by two men on motorcycles. He was a well-known social worker as well.

In another shooting incident at the same time Sibte Hasan, care-taker of an Imambargah was targeted by two motorcyclists but escaped with injuries. A passerby was also injured.

The fact is all these horrors receive international publicity. And foreign investors seeking information about investment climate in Pakistan are given such elaborate details for a small fee by various agencies through the internet.

A foreign investor in the city tells me without wanting to be named that if mosques and imambargahs become very unsafe places in an Islamic state and going to pray there very risky it has to make foreigners think seriously before wanting to commit large sums as investment and choosing to stay around here for long.

Foreign investors have the age-old problems in Pakistan, like inadequate infra-structure, exasperating red tape, varied forms of corruption, high and numerous taxes, a highly restricted social environment, etc. But killing for sectarian or ideological or religious reasons is a far graver issue, and they want to avoid such an environment at all costs.

Big time crime is also on the increase and an average of ten cars get stolen in the city alone, including many company cars. A number of corporate chiefs have lost their cars. And they are aware the police is part of the problem but not a part of the solution. And that increases their apprehension.

Today robbers kill their victims readily for any manifestation of resistance and even for shouting out of fear. Elderly women cannot readily surrender all they had collected over the decades to a robber but he could not careless and he shoots them dead, robs and runs.

Many foreigners have fallen victims to such robberies. Some of them even do not report to the police knowing that it is futile, and they may have to spend a great deal of time with the police fruitlessly.

All this is happening at a time when we need far more of foreign aid, write-off of loans by foreign countries, foreign investment and greater goodwill for the country abroad so that not only it could have larger market access but also the people will buy more of Pakistani goods out of feeling of goodwill, apart from good economic reasons.

And we need their goodwill at a time when we need some of the best companies in the world to buy the large public sector units to be privatized and pay pretty good prices in anticipation of large profits. And we want them to invest large new capital in these units and expand them.

And we are seeking more loans from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for the social sector development programme, particularly in the areas of education and public health to employ more doctors. Simultaneously we are shooting to death one doctor after another, and so far killed more than 60 doctors in the city alone. And they are some of the finest doctors available in the country and some like Dr Aley Zaidi had come back to serve their people in Pakistan.

Foreigners are irritated by the restrictions on their way of life following prohibition. They also protest against the high cost of liquor as a result of the high taxation and the overall social constraints in Pakistan.

And they find it difficult to get out of Karachi and go into the countryside in Sindh because of the increasing kidnapping for ransom or attempts to seize luxury cars. If many foreigners have not been kidnapped that is because they avoid such risks and play safe.

When a large Japanese business delegation visited Pakistan by the middle of last year the Karachi businessmen were trying to persuade them to invest more in Karachi and become their partners. But they were reluctant to invest in Pakistan in general, and said if they decided to invest that would not be in Karachi. Karachi businessmen argued the Japanese school was in the city so was the Japanese Club and there were many Japanese investments in Pakistan, particularly in the automobile and motorcycle sector. But they were vocal in preferring other parts of the country, including Lahore and the environs of Islamabad.

The ambassador for British Business Iain Dale visiting Karachi spoke of the great potential for British investment in Pakistan. So have many other officials of other countries. What matters is making the potential real and making investment on the ground.

He identified oil and gas and the IT sector as priority areas. But despite the fact that one out of three wells drilled produces oil or gas in Pakistan the overall foreign investment in this sector is small, but it is increasing. The investment in the IT sector is likely to be small due to the adverse global environment.

The evident lawlessness is so pervasive that even the traffic police officers are falling victim to wild traffic. If traffic sub-inspector Iqbal died on Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan Road last week, another assistant sub-inspector died under the wheels in the earlier week. In addition a number of traffic cops fall victims to speeding vehicles every week or get seriously injured.

What is striking is that most of the time such crimes are committed by drivers of public conveyance who, in other countries, are far more disciplined than drivers of private cars. What is happening to the traffic police officers is the same as what is happening to the police officers in general. They had given the criminals and violators of traffic rules a free-run for too long; and they do not want the police to control or regulate them now. Hence the criminals shoot the police officers while the bus and coach drivers run over the traffic cops and officers.

The problem of rising crimes has been a major deterrent for domestic investment too for long. Nooriabad was established as an industrial centre to provide employment to the people of the interior. But kidnapping for ransom scared the investors from Karachi. Ghous Ali Shah as chief minister of Sindh offered to provide helicopter service to take them to Noorabad from Karachi and back. And they asked him who would protect them from the kidnappers or robbers after they were dropped in Nooriabad?

The situation would have been far different if investors had faith in the integrity and efficacy of the police. They do not have such faith. Instead they regard the police as the source of many crimes.

Such fears drove some of the Karachi businessmen earlier to Punjab and areas around Islamabad like Hattar. But they do not want to be away from their families for too long.

I asked a major investor and exporter, who talks of his love for Pakistan, why he did not invest. He says his sons were also urging him to invest and set up new units. But, he says, he wants to be certain he would be alive to see his new units coming up and not shot midway. Even if such fears are exaggerated they are there and we have to remove them through effective measures.