KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 — Malaysia’s education system is the main reason why the country is losing out to its regional peers in high-level foreign direct investments (FDI), according to Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal.

He said the local education system is not competitive enough compared to those of other South-east Asian nations, which is why multinational companies that set up operations here are those that are likely to offer low-income job opportunities that do not need high skill sets.

"I think the main obstacle that hinders our FDI is our education system. We lack competitiveness in our higher education. That’s why we couldn’t produce a sustainable frontline for them to come here.

"We all know that these multinational companies like to come to our country for the blue-collar instead of the white-collar workers.

"We have many foreign labourers in this country that work with multinational companies,” the Bersatu Youth chief said on The Breakfast Grille, BFM’s morning radio programme.

Asked what the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition would have done to create higher-paying jobs in the country, Wan Fayhsal said its priority would be to stabilise and strengthen small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

PN had set the loan moratorium to ease the financial burden of SMEs when its chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was prime minister during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, and continued to promote the policy in its 15th general election manifesto.

"This part of the economic sector of our country is still in the recovery mode,” Wan Fayhsal said, and proposed granting an automatic suspension of loans for the SMEs.

But the BFM presenter countered that the idea of an automatic loan moratorium was a short-term strategy as it only deferred their payment of borrowings without addressing more pressing issues such as the rising costs of living.