What is an In-Country Value (ICV) Certificate?

Someone just asked for your ICV certificate. Now you have a tender deadline, a pile of financial records, and a score that apparently decides how much of your business counts as “in-country”. Fun.

ICV stands for In-Country Value, and the UAE’s National ICV Program measures how much a supplier contributes to the local economy through its spending, investment, and other business activity. The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) runs the programme, while approved certifying bodies issue the certificates. Your score can affect how your bid is assessed by participating entities, so it is worth knowing what sits behind the number.

This guide breaks down what an ICV certificate means, how the score is calculated, how to get certified, what it costs, and what the audit will ask for. We’ll also look at how better records and spend management for procurement managers can make the process less painful.

What an ICV certificate is

The In-Country Value (ICV) Certificate shows how much your business contributes to the UAE economy through its local spending, investment, and other activities. The National ICV Program is supervised by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) and applies across participating government entities and major national companies.

For suppliers, the certificate can matter when you're bidding for contracts with entities that use ICV in their procurement process. Your ICV score becomes part of how your bid is assessed, which makes the number on that certificate rather more important than it might look. Approved certifying bodies review your submission and issue the certificate.

Who needs an ICV certificate, and who asks for it?

You may need an ICV certificate if you want to bid for contracts with entities that use ICV as part of their procurement process. The requirement usually appears in the tender itself, so you may only realise you need a certificate when you're already preparing your bid.

The programme began with ADNOC in 2018 before being nationalised by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) in 2021 as the National ICV Program. Today, it is used across participating government and major national entities to encourage local spending, manufacturing, and employment.

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For ADNOC, suppliers must register and complete pre-qualification before participating in sourcing events, and ICV is part of its procurement approach.

The important bit: having an ICV certificate doesn't mean every UAE business needs one. Its relevance depends on who you're supplying and what the tender asks for. If an ICV score is part of the evaluation, the number on your certificate can directly affect how your bid is assessed.

How the ICV score is calculated

Your ICV score starts with four main components: local spending or manufacturing costs, investment in the UAE, Emiratisation, and expatriate contribution. The exact calculation depends on whether you are a goods manufacturer or a service provider.

So, if you are a service provider, for example, imagine your qualifying spend produces 30 points out of the available 50, your investment adds 15 points, Emiratisation adds 8 points, and expatriate contribution adds 6 points. Your base ICV score would be:

30 + 15 + 8 + 6 = 59%

That is before any applicable ICV or sustainability bonuses are added. The current formula also includes an ICV Bonus of up to 5%, while manufacturers can receive an additional Advanced Technology and Sustainability Bonus of up to 6% through the relevant criteria.

The important bit is that you cannot improve your score simply by focusing on one number. Your spending, UAE-based assets, workforce, and other qualifying activities all feed into the calculation. And because the calculation uses your financial records, the numbers need to be backed by the documents your certifying body reviews.

How to get an ICV certificate: A step by step guide

Getting an ICV certificate is fairly straightforward once your financial records are ready. The part that can take time is getting those records into shape before the certifying body starts asking questions.

1. Choose an authorised certifying body

Start by selecting a certifying body from the current list authorised by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT). You can compare the available bodies and choose one that suits your business.

2. Get your financial statements ready

You need audited financial statements prepared in line with IFRS. Under the current guidelines, ICV certificates for financial years ending after 31 December 2024 require stand-alone audited financial statements for the legal entity being certified.

3. Complete your ICV application

Prepare the ICV template using figures from your financial statements and supporting records. Then apply through the MoIAT ICV certification system and select your certifying body.

4. Go through the verification process

The certifying body reviews your submission and supporting documents and carries out a field audit as part of the certification process. This is where having your procurement, payroll, asset, and other financial records properly organised can save you a fair bit of back-and-forth.

5. Receive your certificate

Once the review is complete, your ICV certificate is issued. MoIAT says applications are processed within one month once all required documents have been submitted, while its service page gives an estimated service time of 14 to 28 working days. Your certificate is valid for 14 months from the date of issuance of the audited financial statements.

What does an ICV certificate cost?

There isn't one fixed price for an ICV certificate. MoIAT currently lists the certification fee at around AED 500 to AED 10,000, depending on the company and the work involved.

The final quote can vary based on your company's size, financial records, transaction volume, and how much work the certifying body needs to do. You can request quotes from authorised certifying bodies through the ICV platform before choosing one.

If you're eligible for the UAE's National Programme for SMEs, there is also a reduced AED 500 certification fee. So, rather than budgeting from a random consultancy's price list, get a quote based on your actual company details.

Validity, renewal, and raising your score

Your ICV certificate is valid for 14 months from the date your audited financial statements were issued. That means you should start preparing for renewal before the certificate expires, especially if you regularly bid for ICV-linked contracts. You can also get recertified during the certificate’s validity, but the original 14-month validity period does not reset.

To improve your next score, focus on the parts of the formula you can influence: buy more qualifying goods and services locally, increase eligible UAE investment, strengthen Emiratisation, and keep accurate spending records. Reviewing your cost reduction strategies in procurement can also help you assess where your procurement spend is going and where local suppliers may fit.

ICV certificate requirements: what the audit will ask for

The certifying body will check the figures in your ICV submission against supporting records. Having these ready can save you a lot of back-and-forth. Here’s a quick checklist to help you through:

• Audited financial statements for the relevant financial year
• General ledger and trial balance
• Details of purchases and local suppliers
• Supplier invoices and supporting payment records
• Payroll records and employee details
• Emirati and expatriate employee information
• Fixed asset register and supporting documents
• Details of investments and capital expenditure
• Records supporting UAE-based goods and services
• Relevant contracts and purchase orders
• Any documents supporting ICV bonus claims
• Previous ICV certificate, if applicable

Your certifying body may ask for additional documents depending on your business and the figures included in your submission. Keeping procurement records organised throughout the year also makes the audit easier. If you want to tighten up that process, our guide to audit of purchases covers the basics.

Keep your spend records ready

ICV audits are easier when you don't have to hunt through emails, spreadsheets, and someone's increasingly mysterious downloads folder for every number. Alaan keeps business spend, invoices, receipts, approvals, and supplier payments in one place, with the details captured as you go.

You can set card limits, control who approves what, and keep your records ready for accounting and compliance. It also gives procurement and finance teams a clearer picture of where company money is going, without adding another pile of admin.

Ready to begin? See how Alaan can help you manage business spend.

Most ICV advice says the same thing: spend more with UAE suppliers. We looked at overseas card and supplier spend from 2800+ UAE businesses on Alaan between January and September 2026, and for most of it, that advice doesn’t apply.

About 86% of it went on advertising, software, hotels, and flights. There’s no UAE-based way to buy Google or Meta ads, or to pay for AWS or Microsoft, because the vendor is the product. And a hotel in London is in London. Advertising and technology alone made up 63% of overseas spend.

The part that could move is small, and it’s concentrated in two places:

• Professional services. Legal, audit, consulting, and agency retainers bought from firms abroad. Much of this work can be done by UAE firms, which makes it the clearest supplier switch on the list.
• Telecom. Overseas telecom charges, mostly roaming. Moving staff onto a UAE corporate plan with roaming included keeps that spend local.

So review those two categories before your next certification. After that, local supplier swaps give you diminishing returns, and your time is better spent on the parts of the formula your overseas spend doesn’t touch: UAE investment and Emiratisation.

FAQs

1. Who needs an ICV certificate in the UAE?

You need an ICV certificate when a participating entity requires it as part of its procurement or tender process. Not every UAE business needs one.

2. How much does an ICV certificate cost?

Certification fees generally range from AED 500 to AED 10,000, depending on factors such as your business size and the work involved. Check the current fee with an authorised certifying body.

3. How long is an ICV certificate valid?

An ICV certificate is generally valid for 14 months from the date of issue of the audited financial statements used for certification. You should plan your renewal before the certificate expires.

4. Can I check my ICV certificate online?

Yes. ICV certificates can be verified through the MoIAT ICV system, using the relevant certificate details. This lets participating entities confirm that a supplier's certificate is valid.