Vendor and Supplier Registration in the UAE: Government and Big Buyers

There is no single vendor register in the UAE: Dubai government, Abu Dhabi government, federal ministries and every large developer keep their own supplier lists. This guide maps the official portals, the documents each one asks for, and the fees and timelines they publish, all read on 5 October 2026.

One Company, Several Registers

Registering as a vendor does not win you work. It puts your company on a buyer’s list so that you can see tenders, receive invitations and be paid. Dubai’s official government portal puts it plainly: “all bidders must register on the designated eProcurement system in Dubai” (dubai.ae, page last modified 23 October 2025). The same logic applies everywhere else, so a firm that wants government and corporate clients usually ends up with four or five registrations:

• Dubai government: eSupply for most entities, iSupplier (the Dubai GRP system) for the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) and the shared purchasing programme, and separate platforms at DEWA and Dubai Police (dubai.ae).
• Federal government: the Ministry of Finance Digital Procurement Platform (DPP).
• Abu Dhabi government: ADGPG, run by the Department of Government Enablement (DGE).
• Semi-government and private buyers: each has its own portal, for example ADNOC’s Supplier Hub and Emaar’s supplier portal.

Portal Comparison

The table lists only what each official source publishes. Where a cell says “not published”, we did not find the figure on the official pages and documents we read.

Sources: esupply.dubai.gov.ae, dubaidet.gov.ae, investindubai.gov.ae, mof.gov.ae, supplier.adgpg.gov.ae, mediaoffice.abudhabi, supplierhub.adnoc.ae and Emaar’s supplier registration user guide (October 2021), read on 5 October 2026.

Dubai Government: eSupply and iSupplier

eSupply describes itself as “the official Procurement Portal for Dubai Government Tenders”. Its home page lists the participating entities, among them the Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Customs, the Dubai Health Authority, the Land Department, DET and the Department of Finance, and says the whole bidding process is managed online. The platform is a partnership between Dubai Smart Government and JAGGAER.

Who registers. Invest in Dubai, the DET investment portal, says the business must hold a valid licence issued by DET or the relevant Dubai free zone authority. It lists the documents commonly requested by Dubai procurement portals:

• trade or commercial licence;
• certificate of incorporation;
• company stamp sample on a blank background;
• bank details on a separate letter;
• Emirates ID or passport copy of the main user;
• a completed and signed Conflict of Interest Declaration form.

How it works. You first create the organisation and user account on eSupply with your trade licence number. Each entity then has its own pre-qualification form inside eSupply. A Dubai Customs step-by-step guide (2018) shows the pattern: pick the entity, choose your business classification (built from the activities on your licence), then fill a form with four sections: attachments, company details, financial details and focal point of contact. Plan to repeat that form for every Dubai entity you want to sell to.

Fees. The same Dubai Customs guide says eSupply “is a paid portal” and that a supplier registration fee applies to take part in tenders, without stating the amount. The current eSupply home page does not mention a fee. Ask the eSupply new supplier team for the fee in writing before you pay anything.

How tenders are published. Open tenders and requests for quotation appear under “Current Opportunities” on eSupply. Dubai Municipality’s tenders page (last modified 2 October 2026) directs bidders to eSupply. Results are visible to registered suppliers after they log in (dubai.ae).

iSupplier. DET buys through the GRP system and requires every vendor to be registered on iSupplier. Its service card states the price as Free and processing time as one to two business days. Invest in Dubai adds that iSupplier registration is essential for opportunities from entities in Tasharok, Dubai’s shared procurement programme.

Dubai’s own ICV scheme. Dubai runs a separate In-Country Value programme for local manufacturing. Invest in Dubai says it uses self-declared information with no certification, with weights of 55% local manufacturing, 15% Emirati ownership, 15% company domicile and 15% Emiratisation. This is different from the national ICV certificate covered in our ICV certificate guide.

Federal Government: Ministry of Finance Digital Procurement Platform

The Ministry of Finance runs the Federal Supplier Register through its Digital Procurement Platform. On 5 October 2026 its service page showed 76 current business opportunities, 5000+ active suppliers and 30+ active federal government entities. The process it publishes:

1. Open the service on the Ministry of Finance website or app and click “Start Service”.
2. Log in with UAE PASS.
3. Accept the terms and conditions.
4. Complete the mandatory fields for your supplier type.
5. Upload the documents for your supplier type.
6. Submit the request.

Required documents by supplier type, as listed by the Ministry:

• Domestic (mainland) and free zone suppliers: trade licence, VAT registration certificate and a passport copy of the owner named on the licence.
• Foreign suppliers (no UAE branch): trade licence, tax registration certificate and owner passport copy.
• SMEs in the National Programme for SMEs: trade licence and a copy for the owner named on the licence (the Ministry does not say which document).
• Freelancers: freelancer licence and passport copy.

The service card states No fees and a completion time of 30 working days. Registered SMEs get a 10% bonus on their final score in evaluation, inclusion of at least 3 SMEs in limited tenders, and an exemption from the performance bond (a retention is deducted from early invoices instead). On ICV, the Ministry said on 19 August 2025 that its evaluation framework allocates up to 25% of the total score to certified ICV suppliers.

Abu Dhabi Government: ADGPG

The Abu Dhabi Government Procurement Gate is the DGE platform for Abu Dhabi government entities. Its supplier portal showed 18000+ active listings, 24000+ registered suppliers and 55+ government entities on 5 October 2026. According to the Abu Dhabi Media Office supplier page, once you are registered your profile is visible to all Abu Dhabi government entities. There are two routes:

• Abu Dhabi DED licence holders submit a self-registration request on ADGPG.
• Firms without an Abu Dhabi DED licence, including Dubai, free zone and overseas companies, complete the “Entity Request” form and send it to the Abu Dhabi entity they want to work with.

DGE’s procedure for Abu Dhabi DED suppliers (June 2025) starts by validating the licence number in the format CN-1234521, then asks you to attach the commercial or industrial licence, add contacts, state VAT applicability, enter bank details, answer qualification questions and accept the supplier declaration. ADGPG’s online registration guideline (2023) lists the attachments: commercial or industrial licence, tax registration certificate, company authorisation letter, bank account confirmation letter, ICV certificate (if applicable) and partnership minutes if available. Each file can be up to 15 MB, and the IBAN you enter is checked against the bank letter. Neither document states a fee or a processing time.

Big Private and Semi-Government Buyers

Emaar. Emaar’s official supplier registration page currently shows a video about its standards. Its supplier portal user guide (October 2021) explains that registration starts from a link shared by Emaar and runs through 8 steps: company details, contacts, address, business classification, bank accounts, products and services, questionnaire and review. You attach documents such as the TRN certificate and a bank letter, and enter your trade licence number, licensing authority and expiry date. After submission the request goes to Emaar’s procurement team for approval and you receive an email once it is approved. No fee or timeline is published.

Dubai Properties. We could not find an official Dubai Properties supplier registration page on 5 October 2026: the old Dubai Properties domain is parked and the Dubai Holding paths we tried return errors. Contact the company’s procurement team directly and ask for the current registration link in writing. If you were actually looking for the government Dubai Land Department, its online supplier form has 15 sections, including the company establishment contract, owners, commercial licence, company profile and previous work, international standards certificates, tax certificate, bank letter, power of attorney, the signatory’s passport and Emirates ID, completed and current projects, and SME membership.

ADNOC. ADNOC registers suppliers once for the whole ADNOC Group through its Supplier Hub, free of charge, with an estimated 14 days for registration. The details, including how ICV counts, are in our ADNOC supplier registration guide.

Document Checklist

Prepare one clean pack and reuse it across portals:

• ☐ Valid trade licence whose activities match what you sell (every portal). If it expires soon, renew first: see trade licence renewal in Dubai.
• ☐ VAT registration certificate showing your TRN (federal DPP, ADGPG, Emaar). See our UAE VAT registration guide.
• ☐ Bank confirmation letter with IBAN, on bank letterhead (Dubai portals, ADGPG, Dubai Land Department).
• ☐ Authorisation letter or power of attorney for the person registering (ADGPG, Dubai Land Department).
• ☐ Passport or Emirates ID of the owner or main user (federal DPP, Dubai portals).
• ☐ Certificate of incorporation, company stamp sample and signed conflict of interest declaration (Dubai portals).
• ☐ ICV certificate where the buyer uses it (ADGPG lists it “if applicable”; federal and ADNOC tenders score it). Our guide to ICV certifying bodies explains who can issue one.
• ☐ Company profile, list of completed projects and ISO certificates (Dubai Land Department; most pre-qualification forms).

Step-by-Step Plan

1. List your target buyers and match each to its portal using the comparison table.
2. Check your licence: activities, expiry date and issuing authority. Abu Dhabi routes depend on whether you hold an Abu Dhabi DED licence.
3. Get your TRN in place if you are VAT registered; most portals ask for the certificate.
4. Build the document pack as PDFs under 15 MB each.
5. Register on the portal, then complete the pre-qualification form of each entity you want to sell to.
6. Get an ICV certificate if you bid for federal, Abu Dhabi or ADNOC work; it is built from audited accounts, so start with an audit firm.
7. Watch the opportunities pages and keep your licence, TRN and bank details current, because portals check them.

Worked Example: What the Federal SME Bonus Can Do

The Ministry of Finance applies “a 10% bonus to the final score” of registered SMEs. Suppose an SME scores 72 out of 100 in a federal tender and a large competitor scores 78. Our arithmetic: 10% of 72 is 7.2, so the SME’s final score becomes 72 + 7.2 = 79.2, ahead of 78. This assumes the bonus is applied as a percentage of the score, as the Ministry’s wording suggests; the tender documents decide the exact method.

What is not published

• The eSupply registration fee and activation time: not on the eSupply site. Ask for a written quote.
• ADGPG fees and processing times: not stated in the DGE documents we read.
• Emaar’s fees, timelines and public registration link: the 2021 guide says the link is shared by Emaar.
• An official Dubai Properties supplier registration page: not found on 5 October 2026.
• How each Dubai entity scores its own pre-qualification form: set entity by entity.

Firms that want help choosing portals can also compare business consultants in Dubai or business consulting services.