Singapore's MRA Scheme

The Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) Grant is a financial support program by Enterprise Singapore designed to help Singapore-based small and medium enterprises (SMEs) expand into overseas markets. The grant provides up to 50% funding (capped at S$100,000 per company per new market) to cover costs related to overseas market setup, business development, and market promotion. Eligible companies must be registered in Singapore, have at least 30% local shareholding, and an annual sales turnover of less than S$100 million or fewer than 200 employees. The MRA Grant aims to lower the risks and costs for businesses looking to internationalize, making global expansion more accessible.

About MRA Programme

  • Up to 50% of eligible costs for local SMEs

The support is capped at S$100,000 per company per new market and covers activities under three pillars:

  • Overseas market promotion (capped at S$20,000)
  • Overseas business development (capped at S$50,000)
  • Overseas market set-up (capped at S$30,000)
  • Each application is limited to one activity in a single overseas market

Source: https://www.enterprisesg.gov.sg/financial-support/market-readiness-assistance-grant 

  • Retrospective applications (i.e., project has started, payment has been made, or a contract has been signed with the consultant/vendor prior to application submission) are not permitted.
  • Each project shall not exceed 12 months.
  • Group applications (two or more companies listed as applicants in one application form) are not allowed.
  • Applications should only be submitted 6 months or less prior to the project start date. This is to ensure that companies have greater certainty and clarity that the project will proceed as planned, and to keep changes to the project after submission to a minimum.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the MRA grant, the company must meet these criteria:

  • Business entity is registered and operating in Singapore
  • At least 30% local equity held directly or indirectly by Singaporean(s) and/or Singapore PR(s), determined by the ultimate individual ownership
  • New to target overseas market

The company’s annual sales in the target market must not have exceeded S$100,000 in any of the preceding three years

  • Group Annual Sales Turnover not exceeding S$100 million OR a Group employment size not exceeding 200 employees

Note: Employers eligible for the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit can qualify for additional subsidies under the scheme.

Click here to check your grant eligibility.

How to Apply?

STEP 1

Identify your Target Overseas Market

Sales in that market must not have exceeded S$100,000 in any of the past three years.

STEP 2

Identify the Activity you are Applying For and Select a Suitable Vendor

Click here to view the complete list of eligible costs and sample deliverables for each activity.

Businesses must select an appropriate vendor for their chosen activity, except for Overseas Marketing Presence projects.

There are no pre-approved vendors for MRA, except for FTA & Trade Compliance Consultancy projects (Please refer to EnterpriseSG’s list of approved FTA and trade compliance consultants).

  • Overseas Marketing and PR Activities
    Launching of a marketing/PR campaign – e.g., in-store promotions, road shows, pop-up stores, fashion shows, developing social media presence, online/offline media coverage on various media platforms (e.g. press, blogs).
  • Overseas Physical and Virtual Trade Fairs
    Participate in overseas trade fairs.
  • Identification of Potential Overseas Partners
    Identify potential partners and/or B2B customers such as licensees/franchises, agents and distributors, joint venture partners, and cross-border logistics partners.
  • In-market Business Development
    Tap on outsourced business development services overseas.
  • Overseas Marketing Presence
    Deploy an employee overseas to conduct business development.
  • Market Entry
    Cover advisory, legal, and documentation expenses relating to intellectual property application, overseas incorporation, and import and export licenses.
  • FTA & Trade Compliance Consultancy
    Seek consultancy services relating to customs compliance, export controls and sanctions, and product HS classification.

STEP 3

Prepare your Documents

As part of the MRA application, you will be required to submit the following documents:

Company’s Financial Statements (FS) for the past 3 years

Financial statements refer to audited statements/ management accounts including a profit & loss and balance sheet (both signed off by an authorised person with the name and designation clearly stated). Newly incorporated companies (i.e., < 1 year) may submit other relevant supporting documents such as to-date unaudited financial statement, or management accounts endorsed by company’s shareholder/director instead.

If your company belongs to a corporate group*, please also submit:

  • Ultimate corporate group financial statements for the past 3 years
  • ACRA bizfile of holding companies and/or subsidiaries
  • Corporate group structure
  • Complete SGX Shareholder report (if parent company is listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX))

Proposal and/or quotation from your consultant/vendor

Information required includes, but is not limited to:

  • Detailed scope of services
  • Expected project deliverables
  • Cost breakdown by scope of services

Quotations must be addressed to the registered company name as per company’s ACRA Bizfile. Short-forms and/or other names will not be accepted e.g., if registered company is ABC Global Pte Ltd, ABC Global (without ‘Pte Ltd’) will not be accepted.

Consultant/vendor’s credentials/testimonials and track records of past completed projects

Not required for Enterprise Singapore’s list of FTA and Trade Compliance consultants.

Company’s Financial Statements (FS) for the past 3 years

Financial statements refer to audited statements/ management accounts including a profit & loss and balance sheet (both signed off by an authorised person with the name and designation clearly stated). Newly incorporated companies (i.e., < 1 year) may submit other relevant supporting documents such as to-date unaudited financial statement, or management accounts endorsed by company’s shareholder/director instead.

If your company belongs to a corporate group*, please also submit:

  • Ultimate corporate group financial statements for the past 3 years
  • ACRA bizfile of holding companies and/or subsidiaries
  • Corporate group structure
  • Complete SGX Shareholder report (if parent company is listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX))

*A corporate group is made up of the applicant, holding companies owning > 50% of the applicant, and subsidiaries that the applicant owns > 50% of.

Employment or appointment letter of the BD staff

Quotation for office space rental (if applicable)

Note: When applicable, EnterpriseSG may request clarification regarding the selected vendor and/or alternative quotation source.

STEP 4

Apply on the Business Grants Portal (BGP)

Sign in to your Corppass account to transact on the BGP portal. Sign up if you do not have a Corppass account yet and refer to this guide for help.

Third party companies are not allowed to apply or manage the grant on behalf of applicant companies.

Note: Each complete application takes approximately 8-12 weeks to process. You can log in to BGP and view the status of your grant application under the “My Grants” section. We may contact you via the BGP for clarifications.

After You Apply...

STEP 5

Receive your Letter of Offer

If your grant is approved, your company will receive a Letter of Offer with the following details:

  • Conditions of support
  • Amount of grant awarded
  • Project qualifying period
  • Project deliverables

You must accept the Letter of Offer within the given timeframe.

STEP 6

Complete your Project

Please ensure that all deliverables are met as proof of project completion.

If any changes arise after the project has started, please submit a change request on BGP for evaluation. Failure to do so may result in delays during the claim process.

Change requests can be submitted for the following reasons:

  • Change to project start and end date (i.e., project qualifying period)
  • Change to claim due date
  • Change to project costs (including change in consultant/vendor)

The request will be subject to approval. You may refer to the step-by-step guide here.

STEP 7

Complete the Audit

All MRA claims are subject to audit. After completing your project and fulfilling the deliverables, please arrange for an auditor under EnterpriseSG’s Pre-Qualified Panel.

The cost of audit starts from S$200 (dependent on audit scope), and are supported up to 50%, capped at S$500. Project and audit costs are subject to the same pillar cap.

For all activities:

  • Statement of Claim
  • Invoice(s)
  • Any of these:
    • Company’s bank/credit card statement
    • Payor’s bank/credit card statement (for payment(s) made on behalf of the company by its director/shareholder)
    • Bank’s advice slip (for payment(s) via bank draft, telegraphic transfer, etc.
    • Bank transactions proof reflecting both company’s and recipient’s account name and account number (for payment(s) via PayNow, GooglePay, etc.)
  • Other document(s) necessary as proof of payment e.g., photocopy of cheque, payment voucher

 

Additional documents required for Overseas Marketing Presence projects:

  • Business Development staff’s employment letter/agreement and payslips/CPF statement
  • Either of these:
    • Photocopy of Business Development staff’s passport showing dates of entry and exit from the market
    • Business Development staff’s residential or long-term hotel stay lease agreement
  • Office space rental agreement (if applicable)

STEP 8

Submit your Claims

After the completion of audit, submit a claim on BGP with the following documents by the claim submission deadline specified in your Letter of Offer.

  • Audit report
  • Statement of Claim (endorsed by auditor)
  • Project deliverables as stated within LOF

You may refer to step-by-step guide here.

The completion of project deliverables is evaluated to ensure the project has been successfully finalized.

STEP 9

Receive your Disbursement

You will be notified via email when your claim has been approved. The approved claim amount will be disbursed via Corporate PayNow or GIRO to your designated bank account.

Note: Disbursement takes approximately 14 working days (via PayNow Corporate) following the approval of claims.

PayNow Corporate (preferred)

  • You are encouraged to register for PayNow Corporate with your UEN +3 alphanumeric suffix (if applicable) through your respective banks in three simple steps:
    • Contact your bank or log in to your bank’s internet banking or mobile banking app.
    • Link your UEN to the bank account. You can add a 3-digit alpha-numeric suffix to your UEN to create multiple PayNow proxies.
    • Enter your name to complete the setup.
  • Once your PayNow Corporate account is set up, submit your details via Business Grant Portal (BGP) claim form.
  • With PayNow Corporate, grant applicants can receive their grants quicker, within 14 working days after approval of claims.

 

GIRO

  • Alternatively, you may also make payments via GIRO. For payments via GIRO, kindly submit your bank account details via FormSG here. Do note that disbursement via GIRO may take up to eight weeks after approval of claims.

 

In the event that no PayNow Corporate or GIRO has been set up, we are unable to disburse the claim.

Ready to Apply Singapore's MRA Scheme?

Gain more information by contacting our professionals on submitting your application for the Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) Grant.

Talk to Our Expert

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.