ICV Certificate in the UAE: Who Issues It, What It Needs and How It Is Scored

The programme belongs to the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT). The certificate itself is issued through MoIAT's ICV platform (icv.moiat.gov.ae) by an authorised certifying body. These are independent audit firms that MoIAT approves to verify ICV submissions. MoIAT publishes the list of certifying bodies, and earlier ministry material put the number at 21 firms. Check the current list on the platform rather than relying on a count.

MoIAT's service page sets out the steps:

1. Log in to the MoIAT platform with UAE Pass and register the company.
2. Apply for the ICV service and select certifying bodies to quote. You accept one quote and the others lapse.
3. The certifying body uploads a signed engagement letter.
4. Complete the draft ICV certificate data, which the certifying body reviews, including a field audit.
5. Pay the certifying body's fee and receive the certificate.

MoIAT also lists NAFIS registration as a prerequisite. Each certificate carries a QR code that buyers verify against the MoIAT blockchain, so you cannot edit an issued certificate.

The ICV certificate is built from IFRS-compliant audited financial statements of the specific legal entity named on the certificate, on a valid trade licence. The certifying body reconciles every figure in the MoIAT ICV template to those statements and to supporting records such as payroll, invoices and asset registers.

Practical consequences:

• Each licensed entity that bids needs its own certificate and its own audited accounts. Group or consolidated accounts do not substitute for the bidding entity's statements.
• If an entity has been established for less than 10 months at the certification date, MoIAT allows management accounts instead of audited statements.
• The audit must be finished before the ICV engagement starts, so a late statutory audit delays the certificate. Certifying bodies typically expect accounts that are no more than two years old.

The audited accounts are often already required for corporate tax, especially for free zone companies. See our guide to audited financial statements in the UAE for who must prepare them.

MoIAT publishes two formulas, one for service providers and one for goods manufacturers. Both use the same four weighted blocks plus bonuses.

• 50%: third-party spend (service providers), meaning purchases weighted by each supplier's own ICV score plus Emirati cost and 60% of expat cost, over total cost. For manufacturers this block is manufacturing cost incurred in the UAE.
• 25%: investment, measured as the net book value of UAE assets against total assets, plus growth in assets.
• 15%: Emiratisation, progressive with Emirati headcount and salary, training and benefits cost.
• 10%: expat contribution.
• Bonuses: up to 5% for revenue from outside the UAE (excluding re-exports), plus a sustainability bonus. That bonus is up to 3% for service providers and up to 6% for manufacturers, which includes the Industrial Technology Transformation Index.

Because the 50% block multiplies your purchases by your suppliers' scores, buying from certified UAE suppliers lifts your own score. These weights come from MoIAT's 2024 supplier deck, so check the current guidelines before modelling.

MoIAT's service page states that the certificate is valid for one year and renewed annually through the e-services platform. It lists processing at 14 to 28 working days and a MoIAT fee of AED 500 to AED 10,000 depending on company details, in addition to the certifying body's own audit fee.

Certifying bodies commonly describe validity as running for 14 months from the date of the audited financial statements, rather than from the issue date. The two statements are not identical. Treat the expiry date printed on your certificate as the operative date, and plan the renewal around your year-end:

1. Close the books and finish the statutory audit early.
2. Start the ICV engagement as soon as the signed accounts are available.
3. Keep supplier ICV certificates on file, because they feed your third-party spend calculation.

An expired certificate during a live tender can mean you are scored as having no ICV, so diarise expiry against your bid pipeline.

The programme's stated aim is to redirect government and strategic-entity procurement to suppliers that add value in the UAE. Certified suppliers gain an advantage in tenders and contracts based on their score. MoIAT publishes the list of participating entities, which includes federal bodies and large companies such as ADNOC.

How the score counts differs by buyer and by tender:

• ADNOC was the programme's first major user. Published commentary describes ICV being applied at the commercial evaluation stage, often combining the certificate score with a forward-looking ICV improvement plan.
• Other participating entities set their own weightings in each tender. There is no single published percentage that applies to every tender.
• Bidders without a certificate are generally scored at zero on the ICV criterion, even though certification is voluntary.

Always read the ICV clause in the tender documents. Procurement teams also check ownership and sanctions points alongside the certificate, as covered in our page on UBO in procurement and ICV.

Because the formula is mechanical, suppliers can plan improvements before the next certificate:

• Buy from certified local suppliers. Your third-party spend is weighted by each supplier's ICV score, so collect their certificates and favour higher-scoring vendors where price allows.
• Hire and develop Emiratis. The Emiratisation block is progressive with headcount and with salary, training and benefits cost.
• Hold assets in the UAE. The investment block compares the net book value of UAE assets with total assets and rewards growth year on year.
• Export. Revenue from outside the UAE, excluding re-exports, earns a bonus of up to 5%.

Keep the evidence for each lever in a form the certifying body can test against the audited accounts. Figures that cannot be traced to the ledger are excluded from the score.