Overseas Business Development under the MRA Grant, Explained

Why OBD is the largest pillar

At S$50,000, OBD carries the biggest cap of the three MRA pillars — a signal of what actually determines success in markets like Indonesia: not the brochure, but the relationships. Distribution agreements, retail listings, institutional buyers and channel partnerships are all built through structured, persistent, in-market business development.

Activity 1: Identification of potential overseas partners

This funds third-party research, identification and business matching to establish relationships with potential licensees, franchisees, agents, distributors, suppliers, joint-venture partners and logistics providers.

What Enterprise Singapore expects as deliverables is specific — and worth designing into the project from the start:

• A researched partner list with comprehensive business profiles: company name, registered address, website, business nature, key products — plus a written rationale for each company's suitability and an assessment of operational stability, market reputation and industry standing.
• Detailed Notes of Meetings (NOMs) for one-to-one, in-market meetings held at business premises (not at events or trade shows), with your direct participation: date, time, venue, full attendee list with designations, outcomes, partnership models discussed, photos and business cards.
• A summary report of partnership opportunities identified and next steps agreed with each company.

Not supported: group matching sessions, sourcing of service providers/vendors, and investor meetings for capital raising. Structure accordingly — a well-run programme never mixes these in.

Activity 2: Overseas Marketing Presence (your own hire)

OMP under OBD supports the overseas deployment of a permanent, full-time BD employee on your payroll — basic salary and office rental in the target market for 6 to 12 months, at up to 70% support for local hires or 50% for foreign staff.

The conditions are strict, and they're where claims get hurt:

• The staff must be stationed in the market for the entire project duration — remote working is not supportable, and documentation (work authorisation, tenancy, utility bills) should cover at least 50% of the project duration.
• The staff must be BD-dedicated — no concurrent roles — and must not hold shares or directorships in the applicant company.
• The hire need not be new, but must not have started BD work for that market before application submission.
• Office rental support requires a signed lease for genuine business premises — residential addresses, shophouses and warehouses don't qualify — and standalone office rental without the hire is not supportable.

Activity 3: In-market Business Development (outsourced)

The alternative to hiring: engage a third-party team already on the ground. Supportable services include recruitment/preparation of local BD personnel, structured outreach to new business leads, and review of your market-entry strategy (including advice on entity set-up). Project duration runs 3–12 months, with vendor progress reports, meeting records, leads and milestones as claim evidence.

This is what Indoscale's Jakarta team does for Singapore brands: your BD function in Indonesia, without the headcount, visa and management overhead — and with the claim documentation produced as a by-product of how we already work.

Choosing your structure

A common Indonesia sequence: partner identification first (build the map, meet the candidates), then either outsourced in-market BD to work the pipeline — or, once traction justifies it, your own in-market hire under Overseas Marketing Presence.

Frequently asked questions

Related reading: Our OBD services · MRA claims & documentation · The complete MRA guide

Based on MRA supportable activities updated 1 April 2026. Enterprise Singapore's current requirements prevail.