Around100 new jobs have been created in the It sector in Galway City today, after a decision by Internet retail giant Buy.comto set up European headquarters here, and a separate expansion plan by Hewlett Packard. Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan made the two separate announcements in the Clayton Hotel this morning. They are being hailed as a major boost for the region at a time when unemployment is heading for record highs, and it brings to more than 200 the number of new jobs created here in recent months. Buy.com– an Internet ‘e-tailer’ which sells millions of products from books to electrical goods – will create around 50 to 55 new jobs in their new Galway facility, which will act as their main hub for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The company – based in California – has around 12million customer accounts worldwide, and claims to be defying the recession with increasing profits. It models itself as ‘The Internet Superstore’. “Based on consumer spending on Buy.com, we do not see any evidence of an economic downturn – instead, consumers are looking to the site as a one stop shopping destination for the best deals on millions of products,” said company president Noel Grover. The most recent figures available show that company profits rose from $568,000 in the first three months of 2007 to $1.4min the same period in 2008, representing an overall increase of more than 130%. In the second jobs announcement, Hewlett Packard will be creating around 45 highly-skilled IT jobs at their base in the Ballybrit Business Park. The company already employs around 500 people there. Welcoming the announcements by Minister Coughlan, Mayor of Galway Declan McDonnell praised the IDA for their hard work in securing the jobs. “It’s very welcome news. In spite of the economic downturn, Jim Murren and his team in the IDA locally have delivered highly-skilled jobs. This is a huge vote of confidence in Galway and the western region. “When I opened the new Lumension company earlier this week, I was told their reason for choosing Galway is because of the highly-educated workforce, and that’s hugely positive for NUIG and GMIT,” said the Mayor. He pointed out that in recent months, around 225 new jobs have been created in Galway.