The German Emirati Joint Council for Industry & Commerce (AHK) organized along with the AmCham, British Business Group, Canadian Business Council, BeNeLux Business Council and Swiss Business Council a seminar on Wednesday 30th on November at Rosewood Hotel Abu Dhabi.
The three localization programs currently running in the UAE: In-Country Value, Abu Dhabi Value and Tawazun Economic Program were the focus of the seminar.
Localization programs have a long tradition in the UAE. While the defense industry has typically used so-called “offset” or Industrial Cooperation programs; ADNOC has launched an In-Country Value (ICV) program, which was followed by the Abu Dhabi Value (ADV) program soft-launched by the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Abu Dhabi. Offset and ICV/ADV programs are procurement-driven and require a reciprocal economic contribution to the UAE, of a designated percentage of the value of the contract awarded. Foreign defense companies are granted offset credits under the Tawazun program in exchange for meeting their localization commitments. Under the ICV/ADV programs, suppliers are granted a localization score based on their local “footprint”.
The Seminar started off with a warm welcome by our CEO Mr. Oliver Oehms, then Dr. Constantin Frank-Fahle from SCHLÜTER GRAF Legal Consultants took over presenting ADNOC’s In-Country Value Program (ICV) , followed by an Update on Localisation Programs in the UAE by Dr. Tom Deeb from T&M Associates. Mrs. Kim Schofield, Managing Partner, O2K Limited, then took us through the Offsets and Synergies with ICV/ADV.
A panel discussion of the speakers along with Jens Winkelmann, Managing Director, Endress+Hauser UAE took place followed by an insightful Q&A session.
