Some £36 million per week is to be spent every week over the next seven years in the 13-county Border, Midland, and Western region under the National Development Plan. In addition, the per capita allocation in this region is to be 23 per cent higher than the national average.

It is because of such statistics and the fact that the plan adopted the aim of balanced regional development, that it was generally welcomed in the region. The plan provided hard evidence that a Government had at last acknowledged that huge swathes of the State had not been getting their fair share of investment.

The Western Development Commission (WDC), a statutory body based in Ballaghaderreen gave the plan a broad welcome, largely because it reflected its own approach. The WDC was particularly pleased that the plan did not opt for a "city-led approach" to developing the west, as was proposed in one report which suggested that Athlone and Sligo be developed as cities.

The national plan talks of existing "regional gateways", and of developing additional gateways, but says this would not rule out the growth of other centres, as there would also be a need for "development hubs" at local and county level. Yet it does recognise the need to select certain locations to ensure the best use of resources and investment. These centres will be chosen as part of the National Spatial Strategy, a strategy which will take two years to complete.

For those in the west, such as the WDC which advocated "even-spread" development, this is welcome news. The WDC vision is for a range of towns, generally one or two per county, to be promoted as primary growth centres while other smaller towns would also be developed on a smaller scale.

The WDC identified these "premier towns" in a report published last month which called for a greater share of foreign investment for the west. Statistics which show the usual vast difference in levels of investment between east and west were quoted.

For example, of 102 new industrial projects announced in 1997-98 with a potential for 24,000 new jobs, only 12 were located in the west. Of these only one promised more than 200 jobs, while 41 per cent of IDA Ireland announcements in the rest of the State, but outside Dublin were for more than 200 jobs.

When the WDC refers to "the west" it means the seven western counties from Donegal to Clare which falls under its remit. It is the statutory body charged with spearheading economic and social development in these seven counties, a structure that many would question now, given that the 13-county Border, Midland and Western (BMW) region is being treated as a single unit.

The WDC has been very active in analysing the problems and making recommendations for "the west" and there would appear to be good arguments now for extending its remit, or linking it up with the BMW Regional Assembly, also being located in Ballaghaderreen.

After assessing 90 possible locations, the WDC identified 10 centres, which had all or most of the basic criteria to attract foreign investment. It argued that these towns deserved to be promoted more actively by state agencies and incentives should be biased in their favour. It said such incentives should be abolished or significantly reduced for towns or cities with a population of more than 40,000.

The centres identified by the WDC were Buncrana, Letterkenny, Sligo, Carrick-on-Shannon, Roscommon, Ballina, Castlebar/Westport, Tuam, Ballinasloe, and Ennis/Shannon, and whatever the National Spatial Strategy adopts it would appear these towns are best poised to benefit from increased investment.

The centres met the majority of criteria such as the availability of a development site or advance unit, a quality local labour force, reasonable access to markets and export routes, ISDN or broadband telecommunications access and a track record in investment and growth.

The WDC accepted that very large foreign investment projects would have to go to cities but said these towns should be the focal points for small to medium-sized overseas firms. Each town would have a catchment area of some 20 miles. A number of other smaller towns were identified as having some of the investment criteria.

The WDC's chief executive Mr Liam Scollan, says that opting for development spread over all these towns as opposed to two or three cities is linked to a vision of the kind of society we want.

"Do we want the west as a commuter belt, where the country is divided into that which is dormant and that which is over-developed, or do we want a society where people have real choices, where different towns are all equally vibrant, and where people have a better quality of life," he says.

Foreign investment was key to the economy's overall growth in recent years and the lack of such investment in the west was one of the main reasons the region fell so far behind. Mr Scollan says the indigenous base is not being ignored but that starting from a weak base, it is difficult to develop on its own.

He says he is now satisfied that the industrial incentives being offered by the IDA are, or soon will be, adequately biased in favour of the BMW region. For the first time, the IDA's targets is to locate half of all new greenfield investment in the BMW region, a target Mr Scollan says he is happy with.

The WDC is also linking up with the IDA and chambers of commerce in a public/private partnership to promote each of the 10 centres. The aim is also to mirror at local level the co-operation between the social partners at national level, he says.

If these 10 centres are to attract investment, one remaining piece missing from the jigsaw is hard evidence that a suitable workforce exists. Until now anecdotal evidence has mainly been used, and there has always been a plentiful supply of workers for good jobs. The WDC's next task is to carry out a "detailed analysis of human resources availability" taking into account people from the region living in other parts of the State and abroad.

Mr Scollan says there has never been a better time for investing in these western towns. In addition to the factors cited for their selection, the Government has now committed substantial monies towards improving infrastructure. With this vote of confidence from the State, it now makes sense for private investors to come on board, he says.

In arguing this case, the WDC points out that more than 130 overseas companies are already located in the west, many of which are in smaller urban locations. One international company which recently decided to locate in the west is Sterling Fluid Systems, which employs 3,500 people worldwide. It has opened a communications centre in Letterkenny and staff numbers are expected to grow from five to 16.

The centre will provide communications and IT support to more than 50 Sterling locations worldwide. Spokeswoman, Ms Marian Metcalfe, said it was decided to locate in Letterkenny because of links with a local IT company. Sterling is also based in an innovation centre beside the Institute of Technology and has access to the college's facilities and its graduates.

Broadband telecommunications infrastructure is the only problem, as it cannot get the same bandwidth it could in Dublin at a reasonable cost, but she expects this to be resolved soon.

Over the next two weeks in Business This Week - 10 centres in the west - what they have to offer investors.