Coface's rating ensures that a counter-party in a B2B transaction is a reliable one if it has such a rating. "The major problem for a company is to inspire confidence - a company can request that it be rated by Coface. By connecting itself on "cofacerating.com", a company can check the ability of its partners to fulfill their commercial commitments among 35 million companies," Coface group's managing director, Jerome Cazes, said in Mumbai on Monday.

Coface is in discussions with banks and has already agreed to sign an MoU with HDFC Bank. It is also in dialogue with insurance companies to seek a solution for domestic protection. Coface has also signed a partnership with the Export Credit and Guarantee Corporation, which recently joined the Credit Alliance Network - a network of 48 credit insurers all over the world created by the Coface group.

ices providers. The deregulation and restructuring associated with the new economy brings together a number of new B2B partners. In this context, companies need to reorganise their traditional suppliers and customer relationships and find new and reliable ones. As most companies are still relatively new to the global e-commerce marketplace, they have credibility and visibility problems.

"An @rating quality label offers them clear benefits for doing business in the `old economy' because it is a seal of quality recognised worldwide and certified by a trusted third party - Coface. But it is also a solution to access the tools of the future: access to electronic market places, to secure payment systems based on smart cards, to PKI (public key infrastructure) and electronic certification. These instruments are now available directly in a Japanese environment for Japanese companies that want to move directly to the new economy," Mr Cazes said.

In India, Coface has joint hands and signed MoUs with several market places such as ITNation.com, chemB.com, clickforsteel.com and a few others. The first @rating quality label certificate was handed over by Sunil Rathi of chemB.com to Rajaagopal Sudhakar of Nectar Biotech Ltd, a member of chemB.com.