On 21 January the Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that Qatar will buy $500 million of Lebanese government bonds. The aim of the investment is to support the economy of Lebanon considering the “profound fraternal ties between the two brotherly countries” as the Minister declared. This decision came after Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Than visited Beirut on 19 and 20 January for the Arab Economic Summit. He was one of the few Heads of State attending the summit. On 21 January the Lebanese Foreign Minister stated  that ” The Emir of Qatar broke the blockade imposed on his country when he arrived in Beirut after a five-hour trip, in a political initiative to break the blockade on the summit”. Lebanon is the world’s third most indebted country and with a rising unemployment rate.