ABSTRACT
To this point in the book, the discussion on the effects of multinational activity has related primarily to the UK economy as a whole. This approach fails to consider the differential spatial impact of MNEs within the country. A fundamental plank of British industrial/social policy has been the use of policy instruments to attract inward investment, from elsewhere in UK and especially from overseas, to the less favoured Northern and Western areas of the country, with the objective of alleviating regional economic disparities. These assisted areas have thus been the major target regions for foreign direct investment. This is likely to continue to be the case, and although the 'regional' emphasis in policy has diminished quite significantly in favour of more general and innovation-oriented industrial strategy measures, the promotion of inward direct investment continues to be geared towards regional attraction efforts. The assisted areas have had a long association with inward investors, many of whom would scarcely be recognised as 'foreign', and concentrations by nationality-the Japanese in Wales - and by sector-electronics in Scotland's 'Silicon Glen' -can be identified. This relationship has continued to the present time, with some of the highly significant investment announcements in the mid/late 1980s including Nissan in North East England, the Finnish paper company Kymmene-Stromberg in Scotland and Samsung Electronics, the first South Korean electronics company to manufacture in Britain,· again in the North East.
