This week, Indian call centre major Firstsource sparked early Christmas cheer in Northern Ireland by announcing plans to create 160 more jobs in the region.

Firstsource, which has 34 call centres worldwide and employs more than 17,000 people across four continents, is among a growing number of Indian companies who have chosen Northern Ireland as a base in Europe. They include HCL, Polaris, PixTransmission and Tech Mahindra.

It set up an office in the region in 2006 and employs 550 people in Belfast. 160 new jobs are to be created at its office in Londonderry, where its current staff strength is 600.

The expansion is due to the strong relationship the company has built up with one of its principal clients, Sky. It has met targets with Sky and the new jobs are to meet new demand, company sources in Belfast said.

Britons wake up every day to news about economic downturn at various levels: dwindling house prices, difficult credit availability, lower manufacturing production, salary cuts and poor retail sales.

Exports to India are seen as a way out of the current economic logjam with Indian companies expanding their base in Britain by creating more jobs.