The ICV certificate in the UAE: what it means, how the score works and how to get one

What an ICV certificate is

An ICV certificate is issued through the official ICV platform by a certifying body that MoIAT has authorised. It states the supplier’s ICV score: the share of its costs that stays in the UAE through local purchases, investment, and the hiring and development of Emiratis. The full form of ICV is In-Country Value.

The program began at ADNOC, which has used ICV across its group of companies since the beginning of 2018. MoIAT launched the National ICV Program in 2021 as one of the Projects of the 50, and on 21 December 2021 MoIAT and the Ministry of Finance began applying it to the procurement of all 45 federal government entities. Certification is now unified: a supplier needs one certificate per legal entity, and every participating entity accepts it.

Who uses ICV scores, and is the certificate mandatory?

Participating entities, including federal ministries, ADNOC and other government entities and national companies, ask bidders for an ICV certificate and use the score when they evaluate bids. The certificate itself is voluntary: MoIAT says certification is optional for federal tenders, but a supplier that does not provide one is scored zero on ICV.

When the program reached federal procurement in December 2021, MoIAT said federal tenders would give ICV a 25% weighting in bid evaluation. The Ministry of Finance has since built ICV into the Federal Government Procurement Procedures Guide and issued circulars requiring suppliers to submit valid ICV certificates for tenders. ADNOC asks for the score whether a company supplies it directly or through another supplier.

How the ICV score is calculated

Certifying bodies apply MoIAT’s formula to figures from the supplier’s audited financial statements. The formula is slightly different for goods manufacturers and service providers:

• Third-party spend (service providers): purchases multiplied by each supplier’s ICV score, plus Emirati staff costs and 60% of expat staff costs, divided by total cost. Manufacturers use manufacturing cost in the UAE in place of purchases.
• Investment: the share of fixed assets held in the UAE (up to 10%), plus up to 15% more in bands as their value rises to AED 150 million.
• Emiratisation: salaries and benefits paid to Emirati staff, from 2% up to AED 200,000 rising progressively to 15% at AED 20 million.
• Expat contribution: the number of expat employees on the Wage Protection System, from 1–3% for 1 to 5 people up to 10% above 200.
• ICV bonus: revenue from outside the UAE, Emirati headcount and growth in UAE assets.
• Sustainability or technology bonus: sustainability policies and ISO 14001, 14046 or 50001 for service providers; the Industrial Technology Transformation Index score and green certifications for manufacturers.

There is no official calculator: MoIAT’s ICV template does the arithmetic, and the certifying body confirms the final score after checking your figures against the audited statements.

Why your suppliers’ certificates move your score

For a service provider, the largest part of the score is third-party spend, and every purchase in it is multiplied by the ICV score of the supplier you bought from. Under MoIAT’s guidelines, a UAE mainland supplier without a valid certificate counts at 10%, and any other supplier without one counts at zero. Some payments have fixed rates: charges paid to UAE government entities count at 100%, and water, electricity and rent at 80%.

A simple example, with made-up numbers: a company with total costs of AED 10 million moves AED 1 million of work from a supplier abroad (0%) to a UAE supplier with a 40% certificate. Its third-party spend ratio rises by 4 percentage points (AED 400,000 ÷ AED 10 million), and its final ICV score by 2 points after the 50% weighting.

• Collect a current ICV certificate from each UAE supplier, and note its expiry date.
• Ask suppliers whose certificates expire before your next certification to renew in time.
• Where price and quality are close, prefer certified UAE suppliers for work you would otherwise send abroad.
• Keep invoices and supplier details that match your audited financial statements, because certifying bodies check them.

Documents you need

• Audited financial statements prepared under IFRS by a UAE-licensed auditor, no older than two years from the certification year
• MoIAT’s ICV template, with figures that match the audited statements
• A list of suppliers with purchase values, and each supplier’s ICV certificate
• Payroll records for Emirati and expat staff through the Wage Protection System
• A fixed asset register for the investment component
• Your trade licence and company details

Companies less than 10 months old that have no audited statements can use management accounts covering up to nine months instead.

How to get an ICV certificate

1. 01

   Prepare audited financial statements

   Under IFRS, audited by a UAE-licensed auditor and no older than two years.

2. 02

   Fill in the ICV template

   Use MoIAT’s template and enter figures that match the statements.

3. 03

   Choose an authorised certifying body

   The certifying body checks your figures and calculates the score. Once appointed, it should not be changed for that year’s certificate without good reason.

4. 04

   Receive the certificate

   It is issued through the ICV platform. MoIAT says processing takes up to a month once all documents are in.

5. 05

   Submit it with your bids

   Share it with participating entities when you register as a supplier or bid.

Cost, validity and renewal

MoIAT puts the service fee at AED 500 to AED 10,000, depending on the company. Certifying bodies set the fee from the company’s size (employees, annual costs and revenue), how ready its accounting system is, and whether it is industrial or commercial, and it is paid when the certificate is issued. Companies registered with the Ministry of Economy’s National Programme for SMEs can get the certificate for AED 500.

A certificate is valid for 14 months from the date the audited financial statements were issued, not from the date of the certificate. You can recertify during that time with the same statements, for example after collecting more supplier certificates, but the 14 months still run from the first issue. To extend coverage you need new audited statements.

Plan the next audit early. Once the 14 months end you have no valid certificate to submit, and a bid without one scores zero on ICV.

Where Birbal AI fits

Birbal AI is an Emirati national company with a National ICV certificate and a registered ADNOC vendor. For contractors and suppliers, spend with us on software, AI and IT counts at our certified ICV score in your third-party spend, while the same work bought abroad counts at zero. We also build software to order that tracks spend by supplier, each supplier’s certificate and its expiry date; an authorised certifying body still calculates and issues your certificate. See software and AI for EPC contractors and AI for oil and gas.

Questions and answers

Sources

1. MoIAT: the National In-Country Value Program
2. MoIAT: ICV formula for suppliers
3. MoIAT: National ICV Certification Guidelines for Suppliers (PDF, UAE Government portal)
4. MoIAT: ICV frequently asked questions
5. MoIAT: issuing an ICV certification (service fees)
6. MoIAT: ICV program applied to all federal government procurement (21 December 2021)
7. MoIAT: reduced ICV certification fee for SMEs (20 June 2023)
8. Ministry of Finance: ICV in federal procurement (19 August 2025)
9. ADNOC: In-Country Value unified certification process
10. PwC: the ADNOC ICV programme (PDF)
11. Crowe: FAQ on the National ICV Program

Birbal AI is an independent company based in Abu Dhabi. Facts about third parties come from the sources above; check them for the latest position.