MRA Grant Glossary: Every Term, Defined
Grant paperwork is dense with acronyms. Here is what each one means in the context of the Market Readiness Assistance Grant, in plain English.
- MRA Grant
- Market Readiness Assistance Grant. An Enterprise Singapore grant that co-funds Singapore SMEs entering new overseas markets. From 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 it supports up to 70% of eligible costs for local SMEs, with a grant cap of S$100,000 per company per new market.
- Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG / ESG)
- The Singapore government agency championing enterprise development, formed from International Enterprise Singapore and SPRING Singapore. It administers the MRA Grant.
- Business Grants Portal (BGP)
- The one-stop government portal where businesses find and apply for government grants, including the MRA. All MRA applications, change requests and claims are submitted here.
- Corppass
- Singapore's corporate digital identity service, used to log in to the Business Grants Portal. Your Corppass Administrator assigns Preparer and Acceptor roles to staff.
- Preparer
- A Corppass role that allows a staff member to edit and submit a grant application on the BGP.
- Acceptor
- A Corppass role required to accept the Letter of Offer. Usually assigned to the CEO or Managing Director.
- Letter of Offer (LOO)
- The document issued on approval setting out the approved grant amount, approved activities, the project qualifying period, the required project deliverables, the claim deadline and the appointed auditors (Annex 6).
- Pillar
- One of the three MRA activity groups: Overseas Market Promotion, Overseas Business Development and Overseas Market Set-up. Each has its own grant cap and takes its own application.
- Overseas Market Promotion
- Pillar 1. Overseas marketing and PR activities, overseas physical trade fairs and virtual trade fairs. Grant cap S$20,000 per new market.
- Overseas Business Development (OBD)
- Pillar 2. Identification of potential overseas partners, Overseas Marketing Presence and In-market Business Development. Grant cap S$50,000 per new market.
- Overseas Market Set-up
- Pillar 3, delivered as the Market Entry activity: overseas incorporation, IP registration, tax advisory, import/export licensing, trade credit insurance and agreement drafting. Grant cap S$30,000 per new market.
- Overseas Marketing Presence (OMP)
- A sub-activity of Overseas Business Development that supports deploying a full-time Business Development employee into the target market, covering basic salary and office rental for 6 to 12 months. Cannot run concurrently with In-market Business Development for the same market.
- In-market Business Development
- A sub-activity of Overseas Business Development covering outsourced third-party BD services in the target market, for 3 to 12 months. Cannot run concurrently with Overseas Marketing Presence for the same market.
- Market Entry
- The activity name used under the Overseas Market Set-up pillar, covering incorporation, IP registration, tax structure planning, import/export licences, trade credit insurance and agreement drafting.
- New market
- A target overseas country in which the company's annual sales have not exceeded S$100,000 in any of the preceding three years. Newness is assessed at country level.
- Grant cap
- The maximum grant payable, as distinct from a limit on spending. The MRA grant cap is S$100,000 per company per new market. Because support is up to 70%, reaching that cap requires roughly S$143,000 of eligible cost.
- Eligible costs
- The third-party costs that Enterprise Singapore will apply the support percentage to. Singapore-imposed GST and out-of-pocket costs such as airfare, accommodation, transport and staff meals are always excluded.
- Retrospective application
- An application submitted after payment has been made (including a deposit), a contract, purchase order or employment contract has been signed, or the project has commenced. Retrospective applications are rejected. Overseas trade fairs are the narrow exception.
- Conflict of interest (COI)
- Any relationship, connection, association or dealing, direct or indirect, between the applicant and its appointed third-party vendor. Applications with a detected COI are rejected.
- Project qualifying period
- The approved window during which project costs may be incurred, stated in the Letter of Offer. Maximum support period is 12 months.
- Change request
- A BGP submission used to vary an approved project, for example extending the period or changing vendor. It must be submitted before the project end date and cannot increase the approved grant amount.
- Single and final claim
- The MRA rule that a project may be claimed once only, based on the quotation submitted at application stage. Additional costs billed afterwards are not claimable.
- PayNow Corporate
- A payment rail that allows Enterprise Singapore to disburse approved grants to your UEN in approximately 14 working days, versus up to 8 weeks by GIRO.
- LEAD programme
- The Local Enterprise and Association Development programme. MRA support is not available for trade fairs already supported under LEAD.
- DTDi
- Double Tax Deduction for Internationalisation. Can be claimed on the same expenses as the MRA, with qualifying expenses computed net of the MRA grant amount.
- EDG
- Enterprise Development Grant. A separate Enterprise Singapore grant. You may hold EDG and MRA support concurrently, provided they cover different scopes of work.
- EDGE
- A new Enterprise Singapore grant announced at Budget 2026 and expected from 2H 2026, streamlining MRA, PSG and EDG into a single scheme supporting all Singapore businesses including non-SMEs, up to S$100,000 per year.
- PSG
- Productivity Solutions Grant. One of the three grants that EDGE will streamline.
- SME (for MRA purposes)
- A company with group annual sales turnover not exceeding S$100 million, or group employment size not exceeding 200 employees.
- Local equity
- Shareholding held directly or indirectly by Singapore Citizens and/or Singapore Permanent Residents. The MRA requires at least 30%.