Shortage of STEM graduates threatens our economy, says don

Malaysia needs more STEM graduates to produce high-value products in automation and big data, says academic.

PETALING JAYA: An academic has warned that Indonesia and Vietnam will outpace Malaysia in economic growth in a decade if the education system does not produce enough science, technology and mathematics (STEM) graduates.

Yeah Kim Leng, a professor of economics at Sunway University, said the Indonesian and Vietnamese economies would expand quickly now that the two countries were focusing on huge infrastructure projects. Foreign investments would be pouring into them, he added.

“We can compete with them only if we attract game-changing foreign direct investments such as in robotics or flying car projects,” he said.

Education Minister Maszlee Malik recently said the number of STEM students in Malaysia had been dropping by about 6,000 a year since 2012.

Yeah, who is an external member of Bank Negara’s monetary policy committee, said Malaysia would not be able to compete with Indonesia and Vietnam in attracting investors interested in the manufacturing sector because labour is cheaper in the two countries.

He said Malaysia could stay afloat only if it had mastery of automation and big data so as to produce high-value products. For that, it would need to produce more STEM graduates, he added.

He also spoke of challenges that would arise from a global recession that could result from the trade war between China and the US.

“We have to be prepared for external forces,” he said, adding that Malaysia needed to have special tax exemptions and dedicated parks to cater to foreign interests keen to invest in automation.

The government would also need to liberalise its policy on skilled foreign workers to cater to these investors, he added.

He also said local companies should be encouraged to take part in the Indonesian and Vietnamese economic expansion to ensure continued business.

“Local companies have the skills and they should expand to these countries and take the opportunity to increase their profits.”

He urged the government to implement all projects mentioned in the 2019 federal budget to reduce the impact of a possible world recession. - FMT