The Afghan Embassy in Turkmenistan says its Chargé d'Affaires Fazl Mohammad Saber met with the UN Political Affairs Officer for Central Asia, Andriy Larin, for talks on Afghanistan. 

Larin stated in the meeting that the main goals of the United Nations Regional Center, which is headquartered in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, is to help and support the countries in the region, including Afghanistan. 

The embassy said Larin praised the Islamic Emirate for its all-round development, the implementation of major and infrastructure projects, Afghanistan's cooperation with neighboring countries and the region, the prevention of drug cultivation and administrative corruption, and the creation of jobs for the people.

Saber also provided information about the IEA’s achievements over the past three years, and reiterated the Islamic Emirate’s focus on an economy-oriented policy. 

UNAMA’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan Indrika Ratwatte has emphasized the need to implement economic and employment projects to get a lasting solution to resolve the economic challenges in Afghanistan.

While visiting the projects in Khost and Paktia provinces for which $40 million have been allocated, Ratwatte said that people in wide and remote areas should be helped in Afghanistan.

“Continuous monitoring of aid delivery allows us to interact with people, identify their needs and be able to address them by authorities and adapt projects,” said Ratwatte.

"We think that for a society like Afghanistan, not only humanitarian aid is needed, but a sustainable solution is needed to build the community and meet their needs,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Economy Abdul Latif Nazari stated that the ministry is looking for the development of employment and infrastructure projects in the country to curb the economic challenges in the country.

“The Ministry of Economy welcomes UNAMA's report on sustainable support for the people of Afghanistan. Our effort is to develop employment and infrastructure projects,” said Nazari.

Some experts, however, believe that more investments should be made in large infrastructural projects in the country to create sustainable jobs for people and solve people's economic problems.

Earlier, the UN officials said that due to the high level of need of the people in Afghanistan, the aid collected to this organization was small and there is a need for countries to increase their aid to Afghanistan.

In the past year, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has signed 13 large mining contracts worth $8 billion, officials said on Saturday.

Addressing a press conference, officials said that 167 small-scale mining projects are ongoing with an investment of 10 billion afghanis.

They emphasized that in the past year, the ministry conducted a new survey of 647 deposits in 28 provinces.

Officials also announced that 1,700 emerald deposits have been surveyed and registered in Panjshir province, and 575 permits have been issued for its extraction, employing 15,000 people.

According to them, in the past year, 78,000 carats of emeralds worth more than $5.5 million have been sold to local and foreign businessmen.

Officials also emphasized that the practical work of TAPI and Mes Aynak copper projects in the country is expanding and has provided employment opportunities for the people.

They also announced efforts to implement new projects in Ghor, Badghis, Maidan Wardak, Herat, Parwan, Bamyan, Kapisa and Nangarhar provinces in the near future.