As I look at the business headlines these days, they are full of potential investors from countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE flocking to Pakistan. A few years earlier, it was the story of the Chinese finding business opportunities in the land of the pure. Perhaps we can also add a few Turkish and Korean ones to the list.

My mind can’t help returning to when my generation started our respective careers. Those were the days of the multinational corporation (MNC). Foreign-owned businesses operating in Pakistan were mainly Western – from the USA, UK, Europe and Asia was represented by a handful of Japanese organisations.

What happened to these companies? Some of them may still be around but most went away. Where did they go and why? And if this has anything to do with persistent conditions in Pakistan, what makes these new investors think they will stay for long?

The reasons the multinationals cited for their exits were all too familiar: failing or inexistent infrastructure, consumer markets with limited buying power, struggling institutions, and corruption. In effect, what they experienced in Pakistan was a disabling environment for business–as opposed to an enabling one.

This is in line also with the general impression we get from drawing-room conversations–that the adverse law and order and poor governance that has prevailed in Pakistan for many decades is the main reason we do not attract foreign investment. We regularly read or listen to newspaper writers and television anchors beating their chests for the shoddy performance of various governments and state institutions. Not that I am defending that performance as woeful as it is. But are those the only reasons for MNC exits?

To answer this, we must first try to understand the evolution of the Western multinational corporation itself. To a large extent, the MNCs of the........

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