The MRA Grant FAQ

The MRA grant is an Enterprise Singapore programme that helps Singapore SMEs take their first steps into new overseas markets. It defrays up to 70% of eligible third-party costs across three pillars — Overseas Market Promotion, Overseas Business Development and Overseas Market Set-up — capped at S$100,000 per company per new market.

Up to S$100,000 per company per new market, split across three pillar caps: S$20,000 for Overseas Market Promotion, S$50,000 for Overseas Business Development and S$30,000 for Overseas Market Set-up. The support level is up to 70% of eligible costs for SMEs.

Following Budget 2026, support for SMEs is enhanced at up to 70% from 1 April 2026 until 31 March 2029. Note that EnterpriseSG's new merged grant, EDGE, launches in 2H 2026 — existing grants (MRA, EDG, PSG) remain accessible until it launches, so companies planning an application should not wait.

A target country where your company's annual sales have not exceeded S$100,000 in any of the three preceding years. The assessment is at country level — so Indonesia qualifies even if you already export heavily to, say, Malaysia.

From 2H 2026, Budget 2026 extends support to local non-SMEs at up to 50% of eligible costs, and adds support for deepening activities in existing overseas markets rather than only new ones. Details are being rolled out with the EDGE transition — check EnterpriseSG's current guidance.

You must meet four criteria: (1) a business entity registered and operating in Singapore; (2) at least 30% local equity held directly or indirectly by Singaporeans and/or PRs; (3) SME-sized — group annual sales turnover not exceeding S$100 million or group employment not exceeding 200 employees; and (4) new to the target market as defined above. Enterprise Singapore makes the final assessment.

Non-profit organisations, societies, religious entities, venture capital companies, investment holding companies and government subsidiaries are not eligible. Group applications — two or more companies applying together for one project — are also not allowed.

Yes. Each application covers one activity in a single overseas market, but you may pursue multiple markets concurrently if your company can show adequate financing and manpower resources for each project.

Third-party costs for marketing and PR activities that build brand visibility in the target market: in-store promotions, road shows, pop-up stores, and publicity across social media and online/offline media channels. The products or services promoted must belong to (or be represented by) the Singapore applicant. Activities targeting the Singapore domestic market are excluded.

Comprehensive documentation of market-adapted activities: activity descriptions with dates, venues and target audiences; evidence of new content adapted to local preferences — explicitly not mere translations or replication of existing content; collaterals, advertisements, press releases and media coverage; photographs of events and campaigns; and measurable outcomes against the KPIs in your proposal. Non-compliance results in pro-rated or rejected claims.

Yes — both physical and virtual. Physical fairs: booth space rental and booth design/construction (each capped at 36 square metres), pitching or speaking slots, and creation of marketing collaterals. Virtual fairs: exhibition hall and booth access, webinars, speaking slots, post-event analytics, business matching sessions and sample logistics. Trade fairs already supported under the LEAD programme are excluded, as are co-shared booths, vendor-staffed booths and B2C-only fairs.

Support for overseas partner research, identification and business matching to establish relationships with potential licensees, franchisees, agents, distributors, suppliers, JV partners and logistics providers. Claims require a researched partner list with full business profiles and suitability rationale, plus detailed Notes of Meetings for one-to-one, in-market meetings held at business premises with your direct participation — including attendees, outcomes, photos and business cards.

Group business-matching meetings (all meetings must be one-to-one), sourcing of service providers or vendors, and investor meetings for raising capital or selling shares.

Yes — under Overseas Marketing Presence, MRA supports the basic salary and office rental of a permanent, full-time BD employee deployed in the target market for 6 to 12 months, at up to 70% for local BD staff or 50% for foreign staff. The staff must be stationed in-market for the entire project (remote working is not supportable), must be BD-dedicated with no concurrent roles, must not hold shares or directorships in the company, and needs valid work authorisation plus residency documentation covering at least 50% of the project duration.

Outsourced BD services from a third-party provider: recruiting or preparing local in-market BD personnel, outreach to new business leads, and market-entry strategy review (including advice on entity set-up). Projects run 3–12 months. Note: you cannot run Overseas Marketing Presence and In-market Business Development concurrently for the same market.

Market entry support: incorporating an overseas entity, intellectual property registration of products/services, tax structure planning, import/export licensing, trade credit insurance and drafting of market-specific agreements. Each activity has defined claim deliverables — certificates, filings, licences and executed documents, with English translations for foreign-language documents.

Yes. The Singapore applicant must own the intellectual property being registered overseas, and must hold shareholding in the incorporated foreign entity (where full ownership isn't legally possible, evidence of compliance with foreign-ownership limits is required). Standalone IP objection costs are not supportable.

No. Generic or template-based agreements without market-specific provisions are not supported. Agreements must demonstrate genuine business need and market-specific requirements, with annotations showing the clauses relevant to the target market.

Through the Business Grants Portal (businessgrants.gov.sg) using Corppass. Submit a business proposal, an itemised vendor quotation matched to supportable activities, deliverables and KPIs. Applications should be submitted no more than 6 months before the intended project start date.

Each complete application takes approximately 8–12 weeks to process. Track status under "My Grants" in the portal. Approved projects receive a Letter of Offer stating deliverables and the claim deadline.

No — retrospective applications are not permitted. An application is considered retrospective if, before submission, you made any payment, signed any contract, or signed employment agreements for the project. One narrow exception: advance booth payments for trade fairs are allowed if the application is submitted no earlier than 6 months before the event. The safe rule: do not sign, pay or commence until approved.

Each project shall not exceed 12 months. Overseas Marketing Presence projects have a minimum duration of 6 months; In-market Business Development projects a minimum of 3 months. Changes to duration require a change request approved before the fact.

MRA is a reimbursement grant: you pay your vendors in full, complete the project, then submit a single, final claim with deliverables and payment evidence. After claim approval, disbursement takes approximately 14 working days via PayNow Corporate (or up to eight weeks via GIRO). Without PayNow Corporate or GIRO set up, EnterpriseSG cannot disburse — set it up early.

No later than 3 months from the end of the project qualifying period; your Letter of Offer states the exact deadline. Claims include the Statement of Claim, invoices, proof of payment showing both parties' details, and the project deliverables per your Letter of Offer.

Yes — all claims are audited by an auditor from EnterpriseSG's Pre-Qualified Panel. Audit fees start from about S$200 and are themselves supported at up to 50%, capped at S$500.

Singapore-imposed GST; out-of-pocket expenses (airfare, accommodation, transport, staff meals); in-house manpower; publicity costs to raise capital; BD staff who are freelancers or working remotely; salary paid as shares, equity, overtime, commissions or bonuses; and rentals of warehouses, factories, residential space, hotel rooms, equipment, furniture, utilities or telecom.

The recurring causes: content that was translated rather than genuinely adapted to the market; activities without evidence of engagement with the target market; missing photos, meeting notes or analytics; activities outside the approved scope or timeline; and projects that started before approval. Build the evidence trail from day one — every Indoscale programme produces its claim file as a by-product of delivery.

The typical sequence: validate demand under Overseas Market Promotion (a 90-day live-market test — Indoscale's programme starts from S$8,400 client share after approved support), then establish under Overseas Market Set-up (trademark, PT PMA, licences, BPOM registration, agreements), then scale distribution under Overseas Business Development (partner matching, in-market BD or your own Jakarta-based hire). Stacked, that's up to S$100,000 of support for one market.

Third-party professional services are exactly what MRA funds — the grant supports vendor costs, not in-house manpower. What matters is that the quotation is itemised against supportable activities with clear deliverables and KPIs. Indoscale prepares grant-ready proposals, quotations and evidence plans as part of every engagement, and executes with our own teams in Singapore and Jakarta.

No. Approval and disbursement rest solely with Enterprise Singapore, and every application is assessed on its merits. What we control is preparation quality: scoping to supportable activities, realistic KPIs, clean quotations and disciplined evidence — the factors that determine whether good projects get approved and paid in full.