UAE ICV Certificate Explained (2026): Formula, Certification, Tender Weighting & Foreign Companies

What ICV is and who uses it

The National In-Country Value (ICV) programme, created by Cabinet Resolution No. 72 of 2021 and run by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT), scores how much of a supplier’s spending, investment and workforce stays in the UAE. Approved audit firms issue the certificates through the national ICV platform, and a supplier can submit its certificate to any participating entity.

Who uses it:

Federal government. Federal procurement rules (Cabinet Resolution No. 122 of 2024) require federal entities to implement the ICV programme and list ICV as an evaluation criterion.
Now mandatory. On 26 April 2026, the Cabinet moved ICV “from an incentive-based framework to a mandatory model” across selected sectors, covering federal entities and companies in which the government holds 25% or more. The implementing text hadn’t been published by October 2026.
State companies and emirates. Participants named in official and company announcements include:
- ADNOC, Mubadala, Aldar, EDGE, ENEC, Etihad Rail, e& and Emirates Steel.
- TAQA, Tawazun, Modon, Emaar, Silal and du.
- Federal and Abu Dhabi health and education bodies.
- Government entities in Ajman and Umm Al Quwain.
Dubai. We found no Dubai-government-wide ICV requirement. Dubai-based companies that joined, and federal entities based in Dubai, do use it.

Scale. More than 8,700 companies held a valid certificate in October 2026, and MoIAT says the programme has redirected more than AED 473 billion into the UAE economy.

How the score is calculated

Every certificate scores you out of 100% on four components. “Goods manufacturers” (holders of a UAE industrial licence) and “service providers” (everyone else, including most traders and agents) are scored slightly differently.

Component	Weight	What counts
Manufacturing cost or third-party spend	50%	Spending in the UAE: purchases from UAE suppliers (weighted by their ICV score), Emirati staff costs, and 60% of expatriate staff costs, as a share of total costs
Investment	25%	10% for the share of your assets held in the UAE, plus up to 15% more for growth in UAE assets of AED 5 million and up
Emiratisation	15%	Emirati salaries, benefits and training: 2% for up to AED 200,000, rising to 15% at AED 20 million
Expatriate contribution	10%	By headcount: 1–3% for 1–5 employees, up to 10% for more than 200

Bonuses on top:

ICV bonus, up to 5%: exports of UAE-made products and services, the number of Emiratis on the Wage Protection System, and growth in UAE assets.
Technology and sustainability bonus for manufacturers, up to 6%: up to 5% from an industrial technology assessment, plus 1% for ISO 14001, 14046 or 50001 or the Abu Dhabi Green Industries Label.
Sustainability bonus for service providers, up to 3%: 0.5% each for policies on strategy, circularity, water and emissions, plus 1% for ISO certification.

Rules that move your score:

Uncertified suppliers: a UAE mainland supplier without a certificate counts as 10%, and any other supplier without one counts as 0%.
Purchases: from a UAE manufacturer they count 100%, and from a UAE service provider at 50% or its ICV score, whichever is higher.
Fixed values: utilities and rent count 80%, and government charges 100%.
Excluded or capped: board and sponsor fees, fines, taxes and charity are excluded. Owner salaries are capped at AED 200,000 per owner per month. Donations count only above AED 120,000, and only to listed bodies.

How to get certified

Register for Nafis, the Emirati employment programme, as a partner. All private companies must do this first.
Log in to the ICV platform with UAE Pass.
Choose a certifying body. There are 25 approved firms, including PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, EY, Grant Thornton, Forvis Mazars, Crowe, PKF, Protiviti and Moore. They quote through the platform, and you accept, counter or reject.
Submit your documents:
- The latest audited financial statements, under IFRS, by a UAE-licensed auditor, and no more than two years old. Since 1 January 2025, they must be stand-alone statements for the entity, not figures split out of group accounts.
- Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation employee and Wage Protection System records. Free-zone companies can use an employee list from their free-zone authority.
- For manufacturers, energy and water use.
The certifying body issues the certificate on the platform. Only the system-generated certificate is official.

Key details:

Validity: 14 months from the date your audited statements were issued. Recertifying on the same statements doesn’t extend it.
Cost: MoIAT sets no fee. Prices come from certifying bodies’ quotes.
One certificate per legal entity. Branches in the same emirate with the same activities and owners share one certificate. There are no group certificates.
Free zones: free-zone manufacturers count as inside the UAE. The rules for free-zone service providers are inconsistent within the guidelines, so check with your certifying body.

How ICV affects tenders

Federal entities. ICV is a required evaluation criterion. The UAE’s own trade-agreement schedules describe an additional 25% bonus in bid evaluations for certificate holders. The federal procurement manual gives ICV a 25% weight in purchases above AED 5 million. Small and medium enterprises get a separate 10% score bonus.

ADNOC. ADNOC ranks bids using an overall ICV score that combines:

your certificate score;
the ICV improvement you commit to, weighted more heavily;
a credit for Emirati employees.

Agents and principals, and joint venture partners, are blended. 5% of contract value is held back against meeting your ICV plan. In May 2026, ADNOC launched an Industrial Resilience Program:

an enhanced ICV model;
Local+, which requires its EPC contractors to prioritise more than 70 approved local manufacturers;
an ICV+ top-up on ICV credit.

ADNOC aims to drive AED 220 billion into the economy through ICV over five years.

Abu Dhabi government. Abu Dhabi’s 2020 unified guidelines gave ICV a 40% weight in the commercial evaluation. We couldn’t confirm that figure is still current.

No certificate? At ADNOC and in Abu Dhabi rules, you can usually still bid, but your ICV score is zero.

Foreign companies

On paper, you can be certified. The certification template has options for international companies, and the UAE–New Zealand CEPA expressly makes New Zealand suppliers eligible for ICV certification and the 25% bonus.

In practice, there are three obstacles:

Certification needs audited statements from a UAE-licensed auditor, a UAE Pass login and Nafis registration.
Every score component counts only UAE spending, UAE assets and staff on the UAE Wage Protection System. A company with no UAE footprint would score close to zero, apart from what it buys from certified UAE suppliers.
The export bonus is limited to UAE-based entities.

Trade agreements:

New Zealand: suppliers are eligible for certification and the 25% bonus.
Australia: the Australia–UAE CEPA, in force 1 October 2025, preserves the UAE’s ICV policy.
India: the India–UAE CEPA excludes procurement under the ICV programme from its procurement chapter. ICV-based tenders sit outside the agreement’s equal-treatment guarantee.

So the real route is a UAE presence:

A mainland or industrial entity with local spend, assets and Emirati staff.
Or a partnership with a UAE company that already holds a strong certificate.

How to raise your score

Buy local. UAE-manufactured goods count 100%, and certified UAE suppliers at their score. Uncertified foreign suppliers count as zero, so ask your suppliers for their certificates.
Invest in UAE assets. Up to 25% of the score.
Hire and train Emiratis through the Wage Protection System. Up to 15%, plus the headcount bonus.
Earn the bonuses: an industrial technology assessment and ISO 14001 or 50001 for manufacturers, and sustainability policies for service providers.
Keep clean accounts. Code ICV-relevant costs separately in your trial balance, as the guidelines advise.

Emiratisation rules run alongside ICV:

Companies with 50 or more employees must raise Emirati staff in skilled jobs by 2% a year, reaching 10% by the end of 2026.
Companies with 20 to 49 employees in 14 sectors faced a AED 108,000 penalty in January 2026 if they hadn’t hired two Emiratis.
The minimum private-sector wage for Emiratis is AED 6,000 a month from 1 January 2026.

What changed in 2025–2026

1 January 2025: stand-alone audited statements became mandatory.
May 2025: Modon, Emaar, Calidus and Silal joined the programme.
September 2025: new certification guidelines added the technology and sustainability bonuses, mandatory Nafis registration, UAE Pass login and the UAE-licensed auditor requirement. The core 50/25/15/10 weights haven’t changed since 2021.
1 October 2025: the Australia–UAE CEPA took effect, preserving ICV.
26 April 2026: the Cabinet made ICV mandatory for federal entities and companies at least 25% government-owned, in selected sectors.
May 2026: MoIAT announced a “next generation” ICV programme, ADNOC launched its Industrial Resilience Program, and du joined.

Questions

What is an ICV certificate?

A certificate issued under the UAE’s National In-Country Value programme that scores, as a percentage, how much of a company’s costs, investment and workforce contribute to the UAE economy. Participating government entities and companies use the score to evaluate bids. It’s issued by one of 25 audit firms approved by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, through the national ICV platform.

Is ICV mandatory in the UAE?

Since a Cabinet decision of 26 April 2026, ICV has moved from an incentive to a mandatory model across selected sectors, covering federal entities and companies in which the government holds 25% or more. The implementing text hadn’t been published as of October 2026. Federal procurement rules already required federal entities to apply the ICV programme and listed ICV as an evaluation criterion.

How much does ICV count in a UAE tender?

It depends on the buyer. The UAE’s trade-agreement schedules describe an additional 25% bonus in bid evaluations for ICV certificate holders, and the federal procurement manual gives ICV a 25% weight in purchases above AED 5 million. ADNOC combines your certificate score with your improvement commitments and Emirati headcount, and holds back 5% of contract value against meeting your ICV plan.

Can a foreign company get an ICV certificate?

The certification template has options for international companies, and suppliers from New Zealand are expressly eligible under the UAE–New Zealand CEPA. In practice, certification needs audited statements from a UAE-licensed auditor, a UAE Pass login and Nafis registration, and every part of the score counts only UAE spend, assets and staff, so a company with no UAE footprint would score close to zero. A company without a certificate can usually still bid but scores zero on ICV.

How long is an ICV certificate valid?

14 months from the date your audited financial statements were issued, and the statements must be no more than two years old. Recertifying on the same statements doesn’t extend validity. Since January 2025, you must use stand-alone audited statements for the entity itself, not figures split out of group accounts.

How do I raise my ICV score?

Buy from UAE manufacturers and certified UAE suppliers (uncertified foreign vendors count as zero), hold assets in the UAE, pay Emirati salaries and training through the Wage Protection System, and earn the technology and sustainability bonuses with an industrial technology assessment and ISO 14001 or 50001 certification.

Sources

This guide explains the rules in plain English; it isn’t legal advice. Procurement rules change, and each tender document sets its own conditions — it always prevails.

The UAE ICV certificate explained.