Updated 31 October 2026 · 70/30 scoring takes effect 1 November · ADIPEC runs 2–5 November
ADNOC ICV is the question a supplier asked me last week, after ADNOC opened AED 60 billion of local manufacturing and he wondered whether he could bid.
I could not answer him straight away. The answer is not in the news release. It is in two PDFs nobody finishes reading.
So I downloaded the MoIAT certification guidelines and the ADNOC supplier guidelines and checked them line by line. This piece explains how the In-Country Value score is calculated, and what it takes to qualify.
Every claim carries the original wording, the page number and a link you can open, so you can check it yourself.
ICV is a scorecard, not a mystery
ICV stands for In-Country Value. It is a percentage on a certificate issued by a certifying body authorised by MoIAT.
The number measures one thing: of the money your company earns in a year, how much stays in the UAE.
ADNOC has used the certificate in tendering since 2018. Its supplier portal publishes the running totals:
Source · ADNOC Supplier Hub, ICV Program page
“In 2018, we pioneered the In-Country Value (ICV) Program”
“AED 307 billion — Redirected into the UAE’s economy”
“23,000+ — Private sector jobs created for Emiratis”
“160+ — Local manufacturing agreements signed”
The official release of 25 October updates those figures: AED 307 billion redirected by the end of 2025, more than 130 products localised, 95 UAE factories developed, and 27,500 Emiratis employed across participating companies.
The official formula: six components, 100 points
There are two versions, depending on your licence. These are the weights published by MoIAT:
Goods manufacturer (industrial licence)
Manufacturing cost 50%
Investment 25%
Emiratization 15%
Expat contribution 10%
ICV bonus 5%
Advanced technology and sustainability bonus 6%
Service provider (non-industrial licence)
Third party spend 50%
Investment 25%
Emiratization 15%
Expat contribution 10%
ICV bonus 5%
Sustainability bonus 3%The first four add up to exactly 100 points. The last two sit on top: up to 11 additional points for a manufacturer, up to 8 for a service provider.
One detail deserves its own paragraph. The 25 investment points are not awarded in one block: 10 points are the base, and once UAE assets exceed AED 5 million, up to 15 more are added progressively.
I checked these weights against MoIAT’s own Excel template. The first line of the calculation is `manufacturing cost × 0.5` and `third party spend × 0.5`, and the bonus is capped at 5 per cent.
Source · MoIAT ICV template, sheet “Page 1 – ICV Summary”
“G29 = IF(…,(‘Page 2 – GOODS Manufactured’!N4)*0.5,”N/A”)”
“G35 = IFERROR(MIN(M36+M37+M38,0.05),0)”
The certificate is valid for 14 months from the date of the audit report.
Source · MoIAT, ICV Supplier Certification Guidelines, September 2025, p.11
“The ICV Certificate will be valid for 14 months from this date.”
Why a trading company starts behind
This is the part most suppliers miss, and the part my friend cared about.
MoIAT classifies agents and traders as service providers.
The only exception is a trader selling the products of a single UAE manufacturer.
Source · MoIAT guidelines, p.7
“A Supplier who is an Agent / Trader will be considered as ‘Service Provider’. However, an Agent/Trader established to sell the products of only one principal Goods Manufacturer in UAE shall be considered as Goods Manufacturer.”
Why it matters.
For a manufacturer, the first line measures manufacturing cost incurred in the UAE: production investment and local wages.
For a service provider, the first line measures third-party spend: who you paid.
A pure pass-through trader books almost nothing on that line, and that line is 50 points. Half the score is gone before the calculation starts.
Getting the manufacturer treatment takes one of two things: an industrial licence with production in the UAE, or an exclusive agency for one local factory.
How ADNOC ICV scoring uses the certificate
Two separate things happen here. MoIAT issues the certificate. ADNOC decides how the ADNOC ICV score is used in its own tenders.
The governing document is the ADNOC ICV Implementation Guidelines, Rev.4, effective for tenders issued from 15 March 2026:
Source · ADNOC ICV Implementation Guidelines Rev.4, p.12
“The ICV Overall Score of a Bidder shall be calculated as under: A. ICV Combined Score – calculated based on the weighted average of ICV Certificate and ICV Improvement plan.”
“then, ICV Combined Score = [ICV% in Valid ICV Certificate x x% + Average ICV% committed for the Agreement duration in the ICV Improvement Plan x y%] + B. Ta’ziz credit = 10 % of ICV Combined score (item A. above)”
Download the guideline pack from the supplier portal, then open the Rev.4 PDF at page 12
In plain terms:
ICV Overall Score
= certificate score × x%
+ committed improvement-plan score × y%
+ Ta'ziz industrial park credit (10% of the sum above)
x and y vary by tender, but y must be greater than xTwo details matter.
ADNOC scores not only what you are today but what you commit to become. That commitment sits in an ICV Improvement Plan and becomes a contractual obligation after award.
The output is a score. Note that the H1 / L1 dual-ranking mechanism behind it is retired on 1 November 2026; the next section covers that.
Three practical rules follow.
Source · Rev.4, p.6
“The ICV requirements are not applicable to, • Purchase Orders of all values, except preference to Local Manufacturers. • All other Low value tenders.”
Source · Rev.4, p.13
“For high value critical tenders, ADNOC may specify minimum ICV score requirements.”
Source · Rev.4, p.13
“To ensure that the Contractor meets the ICV Improvement Plan obligations, 5% of each invoice shall be kept on hold by ADNOC and shall be released based on actual ICV progress achieved vis-à-vis the targets stipulated in the ICV Improvement Plan.”
Read together: purchase orders and low-value tenders no longer carry ICV requirements. High-value critical tenders can set a minimum threshold. And after award, 5 per cent of every invoice is withheld until the committed improvement is delivered.
That last line is the one people underestimate. Winning is not the end of the process.
Working backwards: what local spend gets you 40 points
The formula can be run in reverse.
The main components, written as one line:
ICV = 0.5 × local manufacturing (or procurement) share
+ 0.25 × UAE asset share
+ 0.15 × Emiratization score
+ 0.10 × expat contribution scoreAssume the last three together deliver 15 points. The first line then has to carry the rest:
Target 20 local share needed: 10%
Target 30 local share needed: 30%
Target 40 local share needed: 50%
Target 50 local share needed: 70%If the last three deliver only 10 points, the same targets require 20%, 40%, 60% and 80%.
The conclusion is blunt: qualification depends mostly on local procurement. Employment and assets are adjustments.
Procurement is the main switch.
Three routes, three identities
That brings the first question into focus: what the ADNOC ICV scoring means for a supplier shipping from abroad.
Yes on eligibility, rarely on main contracts. What decides the outcome is the identity you enter with, because the identity decides which formula you run.
Light: trading and technical services
A trading or technical services company in Dubai holds a non-industrial licence, so it runs the service-provider formula. The cost structure behind that setup is broken down in Dubai company setup cost 2026.
The first 50 points measure third-party spend: who you paid. A pure pass-through trader scores little there.
So this route pairs with contracts below AED 2 million, where ICV requirements are waived and the competition is delivery and response time. Spare parts, consumables and maintenance sit here.
Mid-weight: manufacturing at home, no heavy assets here
You have proven production lines but do not want to build a full plant in the UAE.
The opening is the Local+ list, expanded from 70 manufacturers in May to more than 100. New tenders require EPC contractors to source eligible products from approved UAE factories.
Joint ventures, white-label production and semi-knocked-down assembly let a product enter that list as UAE-made.
Whether you move from the service-provider formula to the manufacturer formula depends on your licence type and how much manufacturing you actually perform locally.
Heavy: industrial capital and plant construction
Land in KEZAD, an industrial licence, and the manufacturer formula.
The first 50 points measure manufacturing cost, and this is the only route where that line can be filled. Local assets, Emiratization and expat investment push the rest up.
The cost is time and capital. Land leases, buildings, equipment and certification cycles do not resolve inside a quarter. End-of-service gratuity is the liability most often underestimated; the Dubai gratuity calculator estimates it by tenure and salary.
What actually changes on 1 November
This needs care, because what circulates online and what the documents say do not match.
What is confirmed comes from The National’s reporting:
Source · The National, 25 October 2026
“From November 1, commercial and ICV offers will be assessed together in a single evaluation weighted 70 per cent towards commercial terms and 30 per cent towards ICV. The change retires Adnoc’s previous bid-matching approach, encouraging suppliers to submit their most competitive offers from the outset.”
More importantly, the old rules are being retired.
Since 2018 ADNOC has ranked bidders twice: price from L1 to L5, ICV from H1 to H5, with both rankings read together.
Source · Gulf News, 25 October 2026, quoting Salama Alawadhi, Senior Vice President of Commercial Affairs, Group Local Value and Industrial Development
“Effective from the 1st of November, we will retire H1, L1 and we will introduce a new ICV methodology, a blended weight where the commercial will represent 70 per cent and the ICV 30 per cent”
From 1 November, H1 and L1 stop appearing in new tenders.
Contract size decides how you are evaluated
At the same briefing ADNOC split contracts into four bands. This matters more than the 70/30 headline, because it decides whether you need ICV paperwork at all.
Contract value (AED) Evaluation What you do
below 2m ICV requirements waived Compete on delivery and price
2m - 50m pure 70/30 blended score Price 70 points + ICV 30 points
50m - 200m 70/30 plus improvement plan Annual improvement, 5% retention
above 200m ICV set per project scope Improvement plan mandatory, per tenderThere is a conflict you need to see.
Source · The National: `Contracts below Dh2 million … those below Dh50 million`
Source · Gulf News: `contracts below 50 million dollars … contracts below 2 million`
One reports dirhams, the other dollars, a 3.67x difference. Same executive, same briefing.
The National, Al Etihad and UA.NEWS all report dirhams. Only Gulf News reports dollars, and on the weight of sources that reads as a unit error, with the same applying to the 200m band.
The figure that binds you is still the one in the RFT document, the precedence the guideline itself sets.
Registration and retention changed the same day
The official release carries three numbers that matter more to smaller suppliers than 70/30 does.
Source · Abu Dhabi Media Office, 25 October 2026
“targeting a reduction of up to 80 per cent in the time needed to complete the process… The new model halves the number of required documents and removes prequalification requirements for 60 per cent of service categories.”
Registration takes up to 80 per cent less time, required documents are halved, and 60 per cent of service categories no longer need pre-qualification. Alawadhi said registration that used to take weeks can now be done the same day.
Retention is automated too: upload the ICV certificate, the system calculates the obligation and releases payment against progress instead of email threads.
What is not public.
How the 70 and 30 convert into points, what price formula applies, and how the ICV score maps onto those 30 points have not been published.
The latest public guideline is still Rev.4 from March 2026, and it describes a ranking method, not a 70/30 linear weighting. No revised scoring rules have been issued.
The guideline itself says which document wins:
Source · Rev.4, p.3
“Specific RFT/RFQ instructions or Agreement provisions shall supersede any provision of this Guidelines.”
Tender documents override the guideline, always.
So the direction is confirmed. The arithmetic is not. Whoever understands the existing formula will move fastest when the details land.
Three things to do this week
First, download the official package. The supplier portal’s ICV page links the Rev.4 guideline and four Excel templates. Open the Improvement Plan template first: that is what gets written into the contract after award.
Second, run your own numbers against the formula. It does not need to be precise. Estimate the four ratios and see which band you fall into. Below 30 points, think hard before bidding.
Third, decide your identity. Trading company, exclusive agent, or your own production line. Each runs a different formula, and the wrong identity puts every later effort into the wrong calculation.
ADNOC has also published the categories it plans to tender in 2027 and 2028. What they are, when they come out and what to bring is covered in this follow-up.
The bottom line
ICV turns “how much did you spend inside the UAE” into a table that can be scored.
There is nothing mystical about it. The formula is public, the template is public, and even the retention rule is written down.
Information is not scarce. People willing to finish the PDF and run the numbers are.
If you are heading to ADIPEC next week, or working out whether you can qualify, reach out via WhatsApp on the About page and we can go through the figures together.
What is an ADNOC ICV Certificate?
It is a percentage score issued by a certifying body after an audit of your UAE operations. MoIAT’s ICV Supplier Certification Guidelines state that the certificate is valid for 14 months from the date of the audit report (September 2025, p.11).
How does the ADNOC ICV audit work?
A certifying body audits the figures behind the six components: manufacturing cost or third-party spend, investment, Emiratisation, expat contribution, the ICV bonus and technology. ADNOC then scores the certificate together with your committed improvement plan: Overall Score = certificate score × x% + improvement-plan score × y% + Ta’ziz credit, where x% + y% = 100% and y% is greater than x%.
Where can I find the ADNOC ICV guidelines?
Two documents matter: MoIAT’s ICV Supplier Certification Guidelines (September 2025) for the formula and certificate rules, and ADNOC’s ICV Implementation Guidelines Rev.4 for tenders issued from 15 March 2026. Where they conflict, the tender documents (RFT) override the guideline.
Sources
MoIAT, ICV Supplier Certification Guidelines, September 2025 (weights, trader classification, certificate validity) https://moiat.gov.ae/en/programs/icv-formula
MoIAT, ICV calculation template (the actual formulas behind the weights and bonuses) https://moiat.gov.ae/-/media/site/moiat/programs/icv-formula/icv-template-sep-2025-v1.ashx
ADNOC, ICV Implementation Guidelines Rev.4, for tenders issued from 15 March 2026 (scoring method and retention rules) https://supplierhub.adnoc.ae/icv-program
ADNOC’s AED 60 billion local manufacturing push and the new scoring model, The National, 25 October 2026 https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/energy/2026/10/25/adnoc-offers-163bn-in-manufacturing-opportunities-to-uae-suppliers/
ADNOC’s new ICV model and faster registration, Gulf News, 25 October 2026 https://gulfnews.com/uae/abu-dhabi/adnoc-unveils-new-icv-model-to-boost-competitiveness-and-simplify-supplier-contracts-1.500722993
Official release on the second Make it with ADNOC Forum, Abu Dhabi Media Office, 25 October 2026 https://mediaoffice.abudhabi/en/energy/adnoc-holds-2nd-make-it-with-adnoc-forum-to-support-local-manufacturing-and-advance-uaes-industrial-growth/
ADIPEC 2026 dates and venue https://www.adipec.com/visit/
AGENT-SUMMARY
topic: UAE ICV certification and ADNOC tender scoring
icv_main_goods_manufacturer: manufacturing cost 50 / investment 25 / emiratization 15 / expat contribution 10
icv_bonus_goods_manufacturer: ICV bonus 5 / advanced technology and sustainability 6
icv_main_service_provider: third party spend 50 / investment 25 / emiratization 15 / expat contribution 10
icv_bonus_service_provider: ICV bonus 5 / sustainability 3
investment_detail: 10% base plus up to 15% progressive top-up once UAE assets exceed AED 5,000,000
trader_classification: agent or trader treated as service provider, unless sole agent of one UAE manufacturer
certificate_validity: 14 months from audited financial statement date
adnoc_overall_score: certificate% x + improvement plan% y (y > x, set per tender) + Ta'ziz credit 10% of combined
adnoc_output: blended 70/30 score replaces H1-L5 dual ranking from 2026-11-01
correction_2026_10_26: H1/L1 dual ranking retired from 2026-11-01 (Gulf News, direct quote)
contract_tiers_aed: below 2m exempt from ICV; 2m-50m pure 70/30; 50m-200m 70/30 plus improvement plan; above 200m bespoke ICV per project scope
currency_note: AED is the working unit (The National, Al Etihad, UA.NEWS); Gulf News printed USD and is treated as a unit error; RFT prevails
registration: up to 80% faster, documents halved, 60% of service categories exempt from prequalification, same-day registration
icv_totals_end_2025: AED 307bn redirected, 130+ products localised, 95 factories, 27,500 Emiratis employed
retention: 5% of each invoice held, released against ICV improvement plan progress
rev4_exemptions: purchase orders of all values and low value tenders
nov2026_change: 70% commercial / 30% ICV single evaluation from 2026-11-01 (The National, attributed to Salama Alawadhi, ADNOC SVP group commercial, ICV and industrial development)
nov2026_thresholds: contracts below AED 2,000,000 exempt from ICV; contracts below AED 50,000,000 no ICV retention
not_published: price scoring formula and the mapping of ICV score onto the 30 per cent weight
sources:
- https://moiat.gov.ae/en/programs/icv-formula
- https://moiat.gov.ae/-/media/site/moiat/programs/icv-formula/icv-template-sep-2025-v1.ashx
- https://supplierhub.adnoc.ae/icv-program
- https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/energy/2026/10/25/adnoc-offers-163bn-in-manufacturing-opportunities-to-uae-suppliers/
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