The IKTVA Program: What It Means for Your Industrial Project
The IKTVA Program: What It Means for Your Industrial Project
Saudi Aramco announced on February 11, 2026 that its IKTVA local content program had hit a 70% local content target. The company also set a new goal of 75% by 2030. If you supply, subcontract, or build for projects connected to Aramco, this program already shapes how you get paid, evaluated, and selected. That’s true whether you’ve registered for it yet or not.
What is the IKTVA local content program?
IKTVA stands for In-Kingdom Total Value Add. Aramco built the program to track and grow how much of its spending on goods and services stays inside Saudi Arabia. The goal is developing the Kingdom’s own supply chain, rather than letting that spending flow out through imports or foreign contractors. It applies to Aramco’s suppliers directly, and its effects reach down into the subcontractors and manufacturers those suppliers rely on.
Since the IKTVA local content program launched, it has added more than $280 billion to Saudi Arabia’s GDP. Aramco President and CEO Amin H. Nasser called it “a core pillar of Aramco’s strategy to build a competitive national industrial ecosystem.” The numbers behind the February announcement back that up.
The IKTVA local content program's 2026 milestone, in numbers
The program has identified more than 200 localization opportunities across 12 key sectors, representing an annual market of $28 billion. Those opportunities have already converted into real investment. More than 350 projects from 35 countries, backed by roughly $9 billion in capital, are building new manufacturing facilities inside the Kingdom. Forty-seven products are now manufactured in Saudi Arabia for the first time because of this. The program has also supported more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Aramco held eight regional supplier forums worldwide in 2025, on top of its usual biennial flagship forum. Both were built to connect global manufacturers and suppliers with these localization opportunities.
How the IKTVA local content program calculates your score
Aramco scores suppliers using a specific formula. Your IKTVA percentage equals the sum of five factors: localized goods and services, salaries paid to Saudis, training and development of Saudis, supplier development spending, and research and development. That sum gets divided by your company revenue, then your export revenue factor gets added.
To calculate this, suppliers report data across eight categories. These cover revenue; goods, services, and depreciation or amortization; Saudi payroll costs; Saudi training and development; Saudi supplier development; research and development; investments; and other. This isn’t a self-reported estimate. The data has to be certified by one of Aramco’s approved audit firms before it counts toward your score.
What IKTVA local content program registration requires
Becoming an IKTVA-registered supplier starts before you touch the program itself. You need a Saudi legal entity, typically an LLC, branch office, or joint venture. You also need an investment license from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment. We cover what that MISA license involves, plus the separate industrial license manufacturing operations need from the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, in our Saudi Arabia industrial glossary.
Once that’s in place, IKTVA registration itself runs through a defined sequence. You complete an IKTVA survey establishing your baseline, get it certified by an approved audit firm, and submit the certified documents. From there, Aramco calculates your starting score and works with you on where it can move.
The five-year plan every supplier needs, regardless of score
A high or low starting score doesn’t exempt you from the next step. Every registered supplier prepares a five-year IKTVA plan mapping out specific, measurable moves toward a higher score. That might mean opening a Saudi facility, hiring a set number of Saudi engineers, signing agreements with Saudi sub-suppliers, or shifting a manufacturing process into the Kingdom from elsewhere. Annual milestones get audited under the same certification process as the original baseline.
This is the part that catches new suppliers off guard. IKTVA isn’t a one-time application. It’s a running scorecard that Aramco checks against a plan you committed to, year over year.
What this means for your project
Your project might connect to Aramco directly, as a supplier, or indirectly, through a contractor who is one. Either way, your IKTVA standing affects more than paperwork. Aramco factors IKTVA scores into vendor selection, so two otherwise comparable bids can land differently once local content gets weighed in.
For an EPC contractor, the practical move is treating IKTVA the same way you’d treat any other qualification requirement. Confirm it early, not after a bid is already structured. A subcontractor or supplier who already knows their IKTVA baseline is easier to bring onto an Aramco-linked project than one starting from zero mid-negotiation. The same goes for one with a credible plan to build a baseline.
Frequently asked questions about the IKTVA local content program
What does IKTVA stand for?
In-Kingdom Total Value Add. It’s Saudi Aramco’s program for measuring and growing the share of its supplier spending that stays inside Saudi Arabia. The goal is building the Kingdom’s own industrial capacity.
What is Aramco’s current local content target?
Aramco announced on February 11, 2026 that it had reached 70% local content. It also set a new target of 75% in goods and services procurement by 2030.
How is an IKTVA score calculated?
It combines five factors: localized goods and services, Saudi salaries, Saudi training spending, supplier development spending, and research and development. That total gets divided by company revenue, with an export revenue factor added. Suppliers report data across eight categories, and an approved audit firm has to certify it.
What do I need before I can register for IKTVA?
A Saudi legal entity such as an LLC, branch office, or joint venture, and an investment license from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment. Manufacturing operations also need a separate industrial license from the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources.
Does a low IKTVA score disqualify a supplier?
No, but every registered supplier, regardless of starting score, has to submit a five-year plan showing specific, measurable steps toward a higher one. Aramco checks progress against that plan annually.
How does IKTVA affect vendor selection?
Aramco factors IKTVA standing into how it evaluates suppliers, alongside price and technical qualification. A supplier with a known baseline and a credible improvement plan is in a stronger position than one with neither.
How many jobs and how much investment has IKTVA generated so far?
As of the February 2026 announcement, the program has supported more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs. It has also catalyzed more than 350 investments from 35 countries, backed by roughly $9 billion in capital.
Building toward an Aramco-linked project?
Knowing your IKTVA position, or your subcontractors’, before a bid gets structured saves time that a mid-negotiation scramble costs you later. If you’re planning a facility tied to the energy sector or an Aramco supply chain, get in touch and we’ll help you map out what applies.
