The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Afghanistan has called on Arab nations in the Persian Gulf to work with the organization for the sake of economic growth and development in Afghanistan and to provide job opportunities for Afghans.

Abdallah Al Dardari, the Resident Representative for the UNDP in Afghanistan, said in a message to the Gulf countries that by 2030, jobs should be provided for 12 million Afghan citizens in order to restore Afghanistan’s economy to 2015 levels.

“Afghanistan, a country that is severely economically vulnerable due to war, insecurity, and the COVID-19 epidemic, as well as recent political developments; needs to achieve more than 12 million jobs by 2030,” said Al Dardari.

“We want to revive the proper economy that Afghanistan had in 2015, this is a big goal and we believe that we will create two million jobs for Afghan men and women in the next three years through this strategy. I would like to work with you on this strategy, it is a growing strategy.”

However, he said that since August 15 last year, more than 700,000 jobs have been lost in Afghanistan and the poverty rate has reached more than 90%. He said despite this, the country was still not in a state of despair.

This comes after his recent trips to the Persian Gulf region where he held talks with officials from Gulf countries regarding Afghanistan.

While he did not say how the jobs would be created, he noted there is a need for jobs to be created through the growth of the private sector and that support of industries is needed. He also said the facilitation of trade and the development of Afghanistan’s export sector was necessary.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Economy said that international organizations and institutions have promised to help with economic development and cooperation in creating job opportunities for the people of Afghanistan.

The international community, led by the US, stopped aid to Afghanistan after the IEA’s takeover in August last year. In addition, the freezing of $9 billion of Afghanistan’s foreign reserves has also had an impact on the country’s economic situation.