OUR region has a long-standing reputation in putting down the welcome mat for overseas investors.

Foreign firms seeking easy access to UK and British markets have been offered incentives to come here to replace jobs lost with the decline of traditional heavy industries, like mining and shipbuilding.

For decades the wisdom of such a regional development policy was never doubted.

However, news of the probable departure of Samsung calls that wisdom into question.

Samsung came in 1995, when the level of inward investment was waning and the competition between the regions to land overseas firms was ruthless. Yes, Samsung came because it was impressed with the site, the infrastructure and the local labour force. But the cash sweetener on offer from our region was the most telling factor.

The arrival of Samsung was greeted as the birth of a new generation of sunrise electronics industries, bringing with it thousands, if not tens of thousands, of long-term jobs.

But Samsung's stay with us has not been as glorious as we were promised. Its official opening was clouded by allegations of low pay. And the ambitious plans for an 'electronics' city came to nothing.

Sadly, its fortunes mirror those of other overseas investors once hailed as our economic saviours. Samsung joins Fujitsu, Siemens, Sanyo, Black & Decker, and Electrolux in a growing and ill-starred list.

While there are splendid examples of investors who have stuck with the region, it is clear that the attachment of foreign firms is fickle.

Lured by the promise of substantial hand-outs, many only stay as long as it is convenient to do so. At the first hint of a downturn in their business, it is their international subsidiaries, not their domestic sites, which are the first to suffer.

In future we must be wary of the inherently vulnerable nature of overseas investments. And, perhaps, we should be switching emphasis to the support of indigenous firms, with their roots and their future firmly established in the region.