The program has had some degree of success. These numbers are the highest in the Gulf region. The quota hiring program has been stepped up in the past year and will continue in the future. While public sector investment will provide jobs in the short term, one country analyst emphasized that the private sector will have to drive Bahrain's economic future. The country will have to reorient from public to private sector investment, with value added, wealth generating industrial manufacturing enterprises as the primary engine for future annual growth.
Early indications reflect that the government is headed in the right direction.
The need to bring in private investment has lead to an economic policy described as laissez- faire by U.S. foreign commercial officers. In order to encourage the influx of foreign business, the government has overhauled laws and regulations related to free trade. The Heritage Foundation recognized the government's efforts in 1995 and such praise indicates that Bahrain's government recognizes its economic problems and is taking the necessary steps to move the country forward.