“If Indonesians can make a living here, Malaysians should be more prosperous,” he said in his speech at the 1MET graduation day today.
The event was held for Malaysians who have completed a six-month entrepreneurial, mentoring and coaching course.
Irwan said people had been claiming that Malaysia’s economy was lagging behind those of other developing countries.
“They say everything is wrong. They say we are in debt like in Bangladesh.
“There are people here who are confusing the rakyat.”
According to him, if there are poor Malaysians, it is because they are not making enough effort.
“If they have hands and legs and can walk, they can make a living in Malaysia.”
He said there were four million foreigners in Malaysia, some of whom were conducting businesses.
“If we go to Chow Kit, half of them are Indonesians,” he said.
If one were to visit the night markets, he added, customers would buy almost anything offered for sale.
Due to this, he said, it was crucial to brand a product in order to successfully sell it.
The national debt stood at RM655.7 billion, or 53% of the country’s gross domestic product, as at June 2016.
Of this amount, 95.5% or RM628.8 billion was domestic debt while 4.1% or RM26.9 billion was offshore debt.