In 1966, the Government of Kuwait in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), established according to the five-year agreement signed between the two parties, the Kuwait Institute for Economic and Social Planning in the Middle East as an independent Kuwaiti Institute. In 1972, at the end of the five-year term, the Institute was converted into an independent Arab Institution called the Arab Planning Institute (API) - Kuwait. The five-year agreement signed between the member governments of the Institute and the UNDP limited the role of the UN to providing a number of international experts in addition to a number of fellowships. In 1980, the contribution of the UNDP ended, and the Arab member countries declared the API an independent, regional and non-profit Arab Institution . Currently, the Institute includes most of the Arab countries as members. Its membership, according to the API\'s establishing agreements, is to remain open to other Arab countries wishing to become members. The API will, nonetheless, pursue its policy of rendering services to all Arab countries regardless of membership status.