Kanni Wignaraja, Assistant Secretary General and Regional Director of Asia-Pacific at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said that investments are needed to revive Afghanistan’s economy.  

Speaking on CNBC, she said Afghanistan’s domestic market is full of small and micro businesses that have created job opportunities for men and women in the country for decades.  

“A big part of the UN and UNDP’s effort is [to] jumpstart the local business sector and get that moving because Afghans will feed Afghans. They will produce their own food,” she told the CNBC.  

The Ministry of Economy said that efforts are underway to recruit investment in infrastructural projects.  

“We are trying to shift humanitarian aid toward development aid to invest in Afghanistan’s infrastructures to root out poverty in the country,” said Abdul Latif Nazari, deputy Minister of Economy.  

The economists cited the suspension of international aid and sanctions on the Afghan economy as the main reason for the economic crisis in the country.  

“It caused the collapse of the private sector, the banking system and particularly the local economies,” said Siyar Qureshi, an economist.  

Earlier, OCHA reported that nearly 25 million Afghans are struggling with poverty.