How Efficio supports GCC organisations with in-country value

In-Country Value (ICV) – an approach that seeks to redirect higher portions of public spending into the national economy – is one of the key strategic priorities of governments across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Adam Forgacs and David Mooney, leaders at Efficio Consulting, explain how the procurement consulting firm support organizations of all sizes on their ICV journey.

With over 600 procurement professionals, Efficio Consulting is one of the larger consultancies dedicated to procurement and supply chain. The firm also specialises in In-Country Value work, and its teams in the region (Efficio Consulting has offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Riyadh) help clients realise the benefits of localisation.

Adam Forgacs, the Head of Efficio Consulting’s dedicated ICV Centre of Excellence explained: “We have been working on ICV projects with organisations across the globe, and specifically in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, for over 15 years.”

“What we have realised is that to make ICV successful and impactful, it is critical to implement it gradually and strategically in business operations,” Forgacs continued.

Efficio Consulting has developed a holistic ICV service offering that goes beyond the auditing of ICV performance and takes clients on an ICV development journey. “The initial step is always to measure the as-is ICV contribution – we uncover this through the in-depth analysis and mapping of our client’s spend and supply chain data, after which we develop a detailed baseline insights report and prepare our clients for their ICV audit to enable regulatory and bidding requirements.”

“This is followed by defining ICV improvement opportunities and developing an ICV Improvement Plan – we use Efficio Consulting’s global strategic sourcing experience and our extensive local vendor database to identify opportunities for local sourcing, Emiratisation, workforce development, and wider capacity building in the supply chain.”

Once the opportunities are defined, Forgacs said that the firm’s consultants “we enable clients to realise associated benefits through embedding ICV requirements into their business and procurement strategies, policies and processes.”

“We jointly execute the ICV development plans. We measure real-time ICV growth impact through our eFlow digital analytics and procurement platform, and provide regular training to secure long term sustainable benefits.”

Track record

Efficio Consulting has been working on ICV programs with several clients in the region. “We launched our ICV development work in the region in 2015 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where we supported the development of the national ICV measurement and development methodology,” said David Mooney, Vice President at Efficio Consulting.

“We have since been engaged with a wide range of petrochemical, telecommunications, mining, financial services, and other clients – often through multi-year partnerships – to develop and implement bespoke ICV development programs.”

Through the great leadership of national champions such as MoIAT and ADNOC, the UAE is now advancing its journey towards supporting the UAE industry, and this is creating tremendous opportunities for local companies to drive benefits through In-Country Value.”

Further reading: Official certifiers for ADNOC’s in-country value programme.

Asked if this program is relevant only for tier 1 large companies, Forgacs said: “ICV gives a comparative edge, when bidding with national companies, therefore, other small and medium-sized enterprises will have to start their ICV journey as well, initially from a baselining and certification perspective.”

“However, as the ICV ecosystem matures, ICV development planning is becoming more and more relevant. Suppliers will be required to demonstrate a commitment to grow their national contribution over time – therefore, it is important to identify opportunities and establish a robust improvement plan today.”

Concluding, Forgacs and Mooney said: “In-Country Value creates benefits beyond regulatory compliance – it can reduce a company’s costs through local sourcing, improve the security and quality of supply, reduce lead times, increase sustainability, and enable knowledge transfer and upskilling of the workforce to future-proof the business. As such, ICV should not be seen as a burden or a nice to have, but as an integral part of business strategy and planning.”