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The MRA (Market Readiness Assistance Grant) is one of the best grants in Singapore to help companies to expand overseas.
This grant supports projects that help you (i) promote your business overseas, (ii) conduct business development overseas and (ii) set up corporate presence overseas. |
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Grant Summary
Grant Eligibility |
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Be registered and operating in Singapore Ideal to have at least one year of operating history with HQ in Singapore
Have a minimum of 30% local shareholding Held directly or indirectly by SG citizens or PRs, by ultimate individual ownership
Be a Small-Medium Enterprise Group annual sales < SG$100 mil, OR group employment size < 200
Must be a New Market Not have earned > SG$100,000 of revenue for any of the last 3 years from the target new overseas market
Supportable Costs |
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Overseas Business Development
(i) Business Matching
- 3rd-party costs incurred to identify B2B partners (or customers) as licensees, franchisees, agents, distributors, JV partners
(ii) Overseas Market Presence (OMP)
- Salary of 1 x permanent BD staff physically stationed in overseas market, up to 12 months Can be Singaporean (80% support) or foreigner (60% support); and need not be a new hire
- Rental of BD office in overseas market, up to 12 months
(iii) In-market Business Development Services
- 3rd-party costs of outsourced BD services, up to 12 months
- Such services can include: (i) Preparation of in-market BD staff & product training, (ii) reaching out to business leads, (iii) market entry activities, (iv) updates on BD progress and (v) reviewing market entry strategy, develop future strategy and advise on setting up of entities
Overall grant per country per activity is capped at SG$50,000
Overseas Market Set Up
(i) Market Entry
- Advisory, legal and documentation expenses relating to: (i) Name search, (ii) IP search and application, (iii) Filing & registration for sales/rep office or equity entities, (iv) implementation of recommended tax structures, (v) securing import/export licenses, (vi) Draft franchising, licensing, agency, distributorship and JV agreements, (vii) Trade credit insurance premiums
(ii) In-depth FTA Consultancy
- Cost of above services from pre-approved list of FTA consultants
Overall grant per country per activity is capped at SG$30,000
Overseas Market Promotion
(i) Overseas Marketing & PR activities
- 3rd party costs incurred for: (i) Marketing & PR activites including launch of in-store promotions, road shows, pop-up stores, (ii) Pithcing fees at overseas business conferences. Note that pure digital online marketing is not supported
(ii) Participation in overseas physical and virtual trade fairs
- 3rd party costs charged by Event Organisers relating to (i) physical space rental and booth design & construction (capped at 36 sqm), or (ii) virtual exhibition hall & booth access, business meeting/matching sessions, speaking slots, post-event analytics, or (iii) publicity (deisgn and produce digital collaterals & promotion materials)
Overall grant per country per activity is capped at SG$20,000
Support Level |
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80% of all qualifying costs As announced in Budget 2021, this enhanced support level will apply till 31 March 2022
Subject to caps on grant quantum Refer to above on the respective caps.
Important Things To Note
Non-Supportable Costs under MRA |
Overall cap of SG$100K Grant Applies |
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No Retrospecive Funding |
Claims are on Reimbursement Basis |
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FAQ
What do I have to prepare before applying?
Coming soon.
How can I apply for the MRA?
To apply, sign in to the Business Grants Portal with your CorpPass. If you do not have a CorpPass account, please refer to the CorpPass Guide for instructions on how to set one up.
ESG officers may contact you via the Business Grant Portal or over email / phone for clarifications on your submission before giving you the grant application outcome.
ESG officers may contact you via the Business Grant Portal or over email / phone for clarifications on your submission before giving you the grant application outcome.
What do I have to take note of after receiving an Offer Letter?
If you are awarded the grant, your company will receive a Letter of Offer (LOF) indicating the conditions of support and the amount of grant awarded. You need to acknowledge receipt and accept the LOF (by clicking the 'Accept' button on Business Grant Portal) within the timeline indicated, otherwise the application would be considered invalid.
Key terms to take note in the Offer Letter:
1. Project Qualifying Period
Essentially, projects should have been completed within the specified qualifying period, and all project deliverables should have been achieved.
Key terms to take note in the Offer Letter:
1. Project Qualifying Period
- This is critical, as any expenses paid outside of this period will not be claimable
- This is important, as it breaks down how much of the project costs are supported, and at what percentage levels
- This is critical as you will need to meet all deliverables before your claims can be approved for grant disbursement after the project
Essentially, projects should have been completed within the specified qualifying period, and all project deliverables should have been achieved.
How can I submit claims for grant reimbursement under MRA?
Step 1: Prepare Documents
Prepare the following documents required for claims submission (Claims submission checklist):
Step 2: Submit Claims on BGP and select auditors
Submit claims
Prepare the following documents required for claims submission (Claims submission checklist):
- For first time applicants, complete the Giro form and mail it to the address indicated on the document, or complete the online ESG GIRO Form (FormSG) online.
- No action required if there is no change to the Giro details previously submitted to ESG.
- Deliverables Documentation
- Project Summary report (Project Summary report template)
- Documentation of project deliverables (e.g. consultant’s report, images of equipment, etc)
- Cost Items Documentation for audit (e.g. Invoices, bank statements, employment contract, etc.)
Step 2: Submit Claims on BGP and select auditors
Submit claims
- Log on to the Business Grant Portal (BGP) and select “File a New Claim”. Refer to the BGP guide for more information.
- Upload project summary report and documentation of project deliverables under “Project Report” tab in BGP.
- During final claim submission in BGP, select an auditor from Enterprise Singapore’s Pre-Qualified Panel to verify your claims, unless expressly exempted by Enterprise Singapore.
- Upload cost items documentation (e.g. invoices, bank statements) under “Supporting Documents” in BGP.
- Upon completion of the above steps, submit the claim and record the claim number for future reference. If you require further technical support on your claim submission, please contact Enterprise Infoline.
What happens after I have submitted claims for evaluation?
- An Enterprise Singapore officer will verify that the project deliverables have been met, and may contact you for further information if required. A site visit or presentation meeting may be arranged for this purpose. You may be asked to revise your Project Report if the information is incomplete.
- Concurrently, the auditor that you have appointed will verify your claim documents and issue an Audit Report upon completion of the verification. The auditor may contact you for further information if required.
- The approved claim amount will be disbursed within a few weeks via GIRO to your designed bank account after successful verification of project deliverables & expenses.
- You will be informed via email when the grant has been approved and disbursed.
- An email will also be sent out by DBS to the email address stated in the GIRO form to confirm the transaction.
Next Steps |
Find out how our grant consultants can help your company secure the EDG grant here.
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