ISLAMABAD, March 3: Over 43 per cent of those invited to the Overseas Pakistanis Investment Conference, scheduled here for March 5 and 6, have refused to take part in the meeting due to security concerns, sources in the Ministry of Labour and Overseas Pakistanis told Dawn on Saturday.

However, Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan did not agree that their refusal to attend the conference had anything to do with the recent spate of suicide bombings in the country.

"It is quite possible that many of the overseas Pakistanis, who had earlier confirmed their participation, are shying away due to the condition of $2 million minimum investment," he said at a press conference here.

According to a list distributed at the conference, 392 overseas Pakistani investors had confirmed their participation, but only 222 of them are actually coming.

The list showed that 91 overseas Pakistani investors are coming from the UK, but only 55 of them gave a reconfirmation. From Saudi Arabia, 49 Pakistanis had confirmed their participation, but only 23 of them are now due. Of the 77 confirmed participations from the US, only 64 are currently at hand. Figures from other countries are: 19 out of 26 from the United Arab Emirates, nine out of 18 from Canada, four out of 10 from Oman, six out of 13 from Bahrain, eight out of 15 from Qatar, three out of eight from Italy and 17 out of 71 from 25 other countries not mentioned in the list.

The minister told reporters that the government was expecting $6 billion foreign investment from the overseas Pakistanis expected at the conference.