Terrorism can have deep and long-term economic effects. Productivity and growth decline in areas where threat of terrorism escalates. A heightened threat of terrorism creates uncertainty, increases costs of doing business and slows down growth. When terrorists strike, consumer and business confidence weakens. Sales slump, production tumbles, investment stops and exports decline. This is precisely what is happening in todays Pakistan as the unrelenting wave of terrorism buffets the national economy. Pakistan is already trying to cope with several other issues, like energy crunch, constraining exports and now it has this problem of terrorism threatening to take the economy down. The threat of terrorism is imposing additional costs on our businesses because now we have to travel abroad to meet our buyers and enhance security related expenditure at our business concerns. Foreign investors are not the only ones shying away from bringing their money into Pakistan, local businessmen are also afraid of investing more money under the existing security and economic conditions. The rising business costs have adversely hit the small and medium segment producers and exporters as they work on small profit margins. -AFIA AMBREEN, Rawalpindi, July 14.