UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Head of the UN mission in Afghanistan has asked the international community to seize the opportunity of a Feb. 1 meeting to boost dialogue toward a political settlement.

"The Kabul process meeting planned for Feb. 1 offers an opportunity. At the meeting, the government of Afghanistan is expected to present its strategic concept for reaching a political settlement with the armed opposition," Tadamichi Yamamoto, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), told the Security Council on Thursday.

"This chance must not be missed. The (Afghan) government and the international partners must focus on how we can reduce the levels of violence next year."

He asked for the start of a structured dialogue for peace and reiterated his call on the Taliban to express clear willingness to begin negotiations toward a political settlement.

He stressed the importance of holding parliamentary elections next year, followed by presidential elections in April 2019. "The holding of timely, credible and accepted elections is indispensable to maintaining the constitutional order and trust in the representative system of government."

Yamamoto said, however, there has been insufficient progress on electoral preparations.

He stressed the need for economic growth in the country. The significant reduction of the international military presence in 2014 led to a collapse in economic growth from 10 percent to minus 2 percent in 2015. The economic woes have led to a massive increase in opium production in 2017, he said.

"In the coming months, there must be significant progress on election preparations, real attempts to reduce violence, and the move toward a credible peace process. Because of the cyclical nature of the conflict, opportunities that are missed in the next three months will in all likelihood be missed for the next year," said Yamamoto.

In Afghanistan, insurgency usually becomes active in spring after months of cold winter.