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UAE jobs: 120,000 employment opportunities to be created by 2031

A company will receive ICV certificate and score based on the amount of spending, investment and job creation

Published: Tue 21 Dec 2021, 6:26 PM

Updated: Tue 21 Dec 2021, 8:26 PM

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Photo: File

Photo: File

The National In-Country Value (ICV) Programme aims to create up to 120,000 new jobs by 2031, a top government official said in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE government programme, launched as part of the ‘Projects of the 50’, seeks to enhance economic performance and support local industries by redirecting higher portions of public spending into the national economy.

“For the programme, we are targeting to increase the contribution of industries to the GDP significantly. The programme will contribute to redirecting more than 42 per cent of the purchases and contract expenses of government entities and major companies to the national economy, which will raise the demand for Emirati services and products from the current Dh33 billion to Dh55 billion by 2025. This is accompanied by an increase in the number of approved suppliers to 7,300 companies,” Abdallah Al Shamsi, assistant undersecretary for the industrial growth sector at the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, said during a media briefing held in the presence of Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, and Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology.

The programme takes into consideration local expenditure on manufacturing, local products and services, investments, and the hiring and development of Emiratis. A company will receive an ICV certificate and score based on the amount of spending, investment and job creation. The higher the score, the better the chances in securing tenders and contracts.

Al Shamsi pointed out that the national companies have a “positive experience” after deploying the programme.

“This is a tool to encourage companies to invest and recruit more people.”

In the next 10 years, the programme expects to generate 90,000 to 120,000 job opportunities.

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Officials announced commencement of the process to implement the programme on the procurement policies of all 45 federal government entities, including ministries, federal authorities and institutions.

Mariam Al Amiri, assistant undersecretary for the financial management sector at the Ministry of Finance, revealed that 27 federal entities have implemented the ICV programme.

“This figure is likely to increase. Many other entities have submitted their request to implement the financial system.”

Al Shamsi clarified that there was a difference between the entities implementing the programme and companies and suppliers that are benefitting from it, i.e., those getting the ICV certificate and the score.

“The entities that are implementing the programme are the government, our big national ‘champions’, semi-government companies and so on. But the private sector is the biggest beneficiary of the ICV programme and one of our biggest goals is to increase the contribution of the private sector in our GDP. This is a programme that definitely helps the private sector to grow significantly.”

The total spending by the federal and public entities on goods and services reached Dh134 billion by 2019, which is 9 per cent of the GDP.

Al Shamsi noted that foreign companies too will be able to get an ICV certificate and participate in tenders with the entities that are implementing the ICV programme.

“This programme is for any company, foreign or UAE based that has a desire to do more in the UAE, and get access to procurements, contracts and tenders with those entities that have implemented the ICV programme. Foreign companies can participate in the programme, get ICV certificates and earn a higher score by investing, spending and hiring more on the UAE goods and services.”

Al Shamsi revealed that several international companies witnessed the benefits of moving their services and operations to the UAE.

“We have seen multinational companies decide to set up in the UAE, do their manufacturing, assembly and more value-added activities in the UAE so that their ICV score will be higher and they would be more competitive in getting the contracts and the tenders,” Al Shamsi added.



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