THE British economy has proved to be remarkably robust in the economic downturn which has swept across the rest of the world.

And while the manufacturing sector in our region has come under strain, it too has proved to be resilient.

The threat, however, to factories LG Philips in Durham and Washington shows a weakness in the North-East's industrial armoury.

There is no criticism of the 1,000 or so workers employed at the plants. They are productive, efficient, diligent and hard-working.

Their only failing, it appears, is that they are unable to compete with factories in eastern Europe where labour costs are much lower.

We have to accept that we live in a global economy. As a country and as a region, we accept the advantages this brings, but unfortunately we have to accept some of the disadvantages.

It is no coincidence that the major employers who have announced possible redundancies in the North-East in recent weeks - LG Philips, Cummins and Siemens - are foreign investors.

They arrived in our region because we were able to offer favourable conditions, not out of philanthropy. It was a hard-headed business decision to create jobs here, and it will be a hard-headed business decision to get rid of jobs.

We cannot over-emphasise the importance of foreign investors. They have brought precious new enterprises and new jobs to our region.

But like the microchip plants established by Japanese-owned Fujitsu and German-owned Siemens, their jobs can disappear almost as quickly as they come.

There will always be a natural tendency for overseas firms to put the welfare of their indigenous employees ahead of all others.

That said, we should not adopt a defeatist attitude. The LG Philips factories in Durham and Washington have a proud record of achievement which is worth preserving.

The full might of the political and business communities in the region must be placed four square behind their survival.

But the threat to their future does call into question the wisdom of development agencies concentrating their powers of persuasion and incentives on attracting overseas investors.

Perhaps more support for home-grown enterprises offers more long-term security for the regional economy.