Merchant and trader Rashid said to all who called on him: "Welcome. Come to my land, do business, invest. I am a Muslim, but your religion is no concern of mine. Religion is a personal matter between a man and his God.

"I have mosques, where you can pray to your heart's content, as many times as you may like; I have bars and places of entertainment, race courses and golf courses, where you may enjoy yourselves, eat and drink what you like. I have my jails and I have my very strict system of law and order; as long as you are disciplined and follow the law of my land, you are free to do as you will."

This wise merchant was Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai of the United Arab Emirates. He ruled and reigned; he had no truck with democracy, but he was a benevolent ruler. His compatriot in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the UAE, did the same, and continues on the same path, as have done the successors of Sheikh Rashid.

In this manner have the rulers, the Sheikhs of the UAE attracted investors from all over the globe and in this manner have they built up their empire, their wealth and their standing in the world. Let us look at the comparative chart reflecting the Country Risk (on a scale of 0 to 100) of countries in the Middle East, South Asia, and the former Soviet Union. This largely reflects the western perception of political risk, and on the list of 29, Pakistan stands 26th:

Low Risk: UAE - 0.

Medium Risk: Bahrain - 17; Qatar - 18; Israel - 19; Tunisia - 20; Oman - 22; Saudi Arabia - 25; Morocco - 27; Kuwait - 29; Turkey - 32; Jordan - 33.

Significant Risk: Lebanon - 39; Kazakhistan - 40; Egypt - 41; Syria - 45; India - 46; Ukraine - 48; Azerbaijan - 50.

High Risk: Bangladesh - 52; Yemen - 55; Russia - 57; Algeria - 60; Turkmenistan - 62; Iran - 63.

Very High Risk: Palestine - 67; Pakistan - 69; Libya - 71; Iraq - 98; Afghanistan - 100.

Now we look at the Sovereign Risk (on a scale of 0 to 100) as seen from the perspective of potential lenders. In a list of 20 countries, Pakistan occupies the penultimate place:

Investment Grade: UAE - 0; Israel - 0; Kuwait - 2; Qatar - 5; Oman - 5; Tunisia - 5; Saudi Arabia - 5; Egypt - 14.

Speculative Investment Grade: Jordan - 24; Kazakhistan - 24; Bahrein - 24; India - 24; Russia - 33; Morocco - 33.Highly Speculative Investment Grade: Lebanon - 43; Iran - 43; Turkey - 43; Turkmenistan - 43; Pakistan - 62; Ukraine - 100.

These risk gradings are pre-9/11, dating back to mid-2001, and were presented by Gavin Graham of Shell International at the International Chamber of Commerce Conference held at Karachi in February this year. In the seven minutes given to Graham, he dwelt on a few of the many ills in our Transportation Sector:

"Some 250.000 km of roads in a country of 800,000 sq km, leaving some 40 percent of those in rural areas excluded from the mainstream economy.

"An excellent if in areas little used motorway system but an otherwise poorly maintained national road system.

"A railway system that used to handle over 70 percent of freight and 40 percent of passengers, now both reduced to less than 10 percent.

"A port handling system that, despite being responsible for 95 percent of Pakistan's trade, has been quoted as 19 times more costly than that of Dubai.

"An airline system that has been plagued by high costs and may inefficiencies."

From Shell's perspective, he said, with one oil tanker leaving Karachi every 60 seconds, road safety presents a serious challenge and unless standards for safety and the environment and so forth were not set and enforced western investment may well be driven away. Perception being more important than reality, as it is, the western perception of Pakistan is that it is in no way investor-friendly.

Now we must thank our friends for the good service they have done us. One of them, the MQM's Altaf Hussain, has been taken off our hands, given asylum in Britain and accorded British nationality. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been kind and granted asylum for ten years to one of our worst exchequer- looters, Nawaz Sharif, who now enjoys life praying with Idi Amin. He recently made an attempt to leave the Kingdom, using the excuse of ill-health, but his passport was confiscated and he was informed that he could import as many doctors as he wishes from wherever but that he could not go to them.

The latest man we have had the good fortune to lose is the erstwhile editor of a national daily. Shaheen Sehbai's family members are Americans. His wish apparently was to get out of Pakistan with a bang and back to his home in Great Falls, Virginia. He achieved his purpose and has written and spoken on Pakistan since he returned home earlier this month.

An excerpt from his article in the Asian Wall Street Journal of March 18 under the headline 'Restricting freedom in Pakistan' reproduced in the Wall Street Journal of March 19, under the headline 'Don't be fooled by Musharraf's nice guy pose': "The warning signs are there again. America must invest its political and financial capital in institutions, not individuals. The American people and their elected representatives must not look the other way again. Freedom of the press is under siege. The promised return of democracy is being systematically compromised. American aid is being used to achieve dubious objectives. And the poor people of Pakistan, in defense of whom the ISI and General Musharraf have made their last stand, may once again lose whatever is left of a country that can still be great."

It can be said, without any fear of contradiction, that the press has never been as free as it has been under the military government of President General Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf's main job - now more than ever before - is to enforce law and order and to rein in the terrorists and extremists who plague the country, killing and maiming in the name of religion. Until such time as he achieves this end, there will be no investment in Pakistan, and we will remain beggars depending upon handouts and loans and write-offs. As we all know, beggars can't be choosers.