KUWAIT: 1997 -- First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah signs a resolution to establish a free-trade zone at Shuwaikh port.

2002 -- A team of surgeons conduct a heart surgery at the Chest Diseases Hospital, the first of its kind in the Middle East, by using laser to open heart arteries of a 60-year-old woman.

2003 -- Information Ministry grants licenses for private radio channels. The license last for five years eligible for renewal.

2003 -- Late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah signs a decree appointing Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah as a Prime Minister and assigned him to form a cabinet. This was the first time in Kuwait’s history that the posts of Crown Prince and Prime Minister were separated.

2005 -- Deputy Amir Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah signs a law waiving KD 2,000 (some USD 6,500) in overdue water and electricity bills on citizens. If the bill exceeded this amount, citizens could pay the amount in instalments.

2005 -- Deputy Amir Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah signs a law on regulating professional practice of sport.

2010 -- Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) loans KD four million (nearly USD 14.4 million) to Gambia University project.

2011 -- Kuwait’s Health Ministry signs; in Berlin, a cooperation agreement on orthopedy and neurosurgery.

2011 -- Late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah launches the national campaign for the protection of environment (Senyar 5).

2017 -- KFAED signs a loan agreement with the Maldives worth KD 3.6 million (USD 12.2 million) to finance the eastern coast protection project.  — KUNA