Cultural and commercial ties Pakistan–Saudi Arabia relations

faisal mosque in pakistan named after king faisal of saudi arabia, supported , financed construction of mosque.

saudi arabia has provided extensive religious , educational aid pakistan, being major contributor construction of mosques , madrassas (religious schools) across pakistan, including faisal mosque in islamabad, named after king faisal of saudi arabia. since 1980, number of religious schools increased 800 27000 in 1997 , funded saudi arabia. schools serve nurseries teenagers , younger children (giving religious , moral education) pakistan, syria, afghanistan, iran, russia, yemen etc.

since 1947, political parties have been receiving funding political activities in country. major pakistani city of lyallpur renamed faisalabad in honour of king faisal in 1977. saudi arabia remains major destination immigration amongst pakistanis, number of whom living in saudi arabia stands between 900,000 , 1 million (see pakistanis in saudi arabia). saudi arabia major supporter of islamisation programme of military ruler gen. zia-ul-haq in 1970s. in 2006, king abdullah of saudi arabia awarded nishan-e-pakistan, highest civilian decoration of pakistan.

saudi arabia largest source of petroleum pakistan. supplies extensive financial aid pakistan , remittance pakistani migrants in saudi arabia major source of foreign currency pakistan. in recent years, both countries have exchanged high-level delegations , developed plans expand bilateral cooperation in trade, education, real estate, tourism, information technology, communications , agriculture. saudi arabia aiding development of trade relations pakistan through gulf cooperation council, pakistan negotiating free trade agreement; volume of trade between pakistan , gcc member states in 2006 stood @ usd 11 billion.

financial co-operation includes $3 billion in aid , loans, of $1.5 billion deposited in pakistan s central bank.