Singapore Government Grants for SMEs: A Comparison Hub

Last updated: 23 September 2026

Singapore offers a wide range of government grants for SMEs, and the hardest part is rarely the paperwork. It is working out which scheme fits the problem you are actually trying to solve. Hiring is not the same as reskilling, buying a tool is not the same as running a capability project, and expanding overseas is different again. This hub sets out the main SME grants in Singapore in plain English, groups them by the need they serve, and gives you a short decision framework and a comparison table so you can shortlist before you speak to anyone. Each scheme below links to a fuller guide, and where a scheme has an important nuance, such as financing that must be repaid, we flag it clearly. Criteria and figures change, so treat this as an orientation map rather than the final word.

The main SME schemes at a glance

The schemes most Singapore SMEs encounter fall into a few broad families: workforce support (hiring, reskilling, role redesign), training cost offsets, productivity and capability building, overseas expansion, and financing. The comparison table below is the fastest way to see the shape of each one. Read it first, then use the subsections and the decision framework to narrow down.

Workforce schemes: hiring, reskilling, and role redesign

Career Conversion Programme (CCP)

The Career Conversion Programme is administered by Skills and Workforce Development Agency and provides salary support while an employer hires and reskills a mid-career worker into a new or substantially redesigned role. It suits SMEs that need capability they cannot easily hire ready-made, and are willing to train someone on the job into the role instead. Because CCP is built around structured on-the-job training, it works best when you can map the target role and the skills gap clearly. You can read our full guide to the Career Conversion Programme, and browse eligible role families on the CCP pathways page to see whether a conversion route already exists for the work you have in mind.

Job Redesign Grant (JRG)

The Job Redesign Grant is, in general SME usage, an informal label rather than a separate scheme: since the Productivity Solutions Grant (Job Redesign) closed on 31 December 2025, Skills and Workforce Development Agency job redesign funding runs through WDG(JR+) below. That support funds the redesign of existing roles so they become more productive, often by introducing technology or reorganising tasks. Where CCP is about moving a person into a role, JRG is about reshaping the role itself. It suits SMEs that want to keep their current people but change what those people do day to day, for example by automating repetitive steps and shifting staff toward higher-value tasks. In practice JRG and CCP frequently sit alongside each other, since a redesigned role often needs someone reskilled to fill it.

Workforce Development Grant, Job Redesign+ (WDG(JR+))

The WDG(JR+), the SkillsFuture Workforce Development Grant (Job Redesign+), is the current Skills and Workforce Development Agency grant that funds the job redesign work itself: the consultancy to redesign roles, the capability building that helps managers sustain the change, and qualifying HR technology. Where CCP funds the person's salary during reskilling, WDG(JR+) funds the redesign project, 70% for SMEs and capped at S$150,000 per enterprise, subject to prevailing criteria. The two stack cleanly: redesign the role first, then convert. See our workforce transformation pillar for how the two pillars fit together, and the WDG(JR+) guide for the scheme mechanics.

Training cost support

SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit (SFEC)

The SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit is administered by Skills and Workforce Development Agency (formerly SkillsFuture Singapore) and acts as a credit that offsets a portion of eligible workforce and training costs. It is less a project grant than a buffer: it reduces the net cost of enterprise and workforce transformation activities an SME is already undertaking. Eligibility has historically depended on prior contributions to the Skills Development Levy, so not every company qualifies, and the credit applies to a defined list of supportable programmes. Our SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit guide explains how the credit interacts with other training subsidies so you do not leave value unused.

Productivity and capability building

Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG)

The Productivity Solutions Grant is administered by Enterprise Singapore, with the Infocomm Media Development Authority involved for the IT solutions on the list. It co-funds the adoption of pre-approved productivity solutions and equipment, drawn from a published catalogue. PSG suits SMEs that have identified a standard tool, such as accounting software, a point-of-sale system, or a piece of equipment, and simply want help funding the purchase. Because the solutions are pre-vetted, the application is generally more straightforward than a bespoke project. See the Productivity Solutions Grant guide for how to check whether a solution is listed.

Enterprise Development Grant (EDG)

The Enterprise Development Grant, also from Enterprise Singapore, funds bespoke capability-building projects across three pillars: Core Capabilities, Innovation and Productivity, and Market Access. Unlike PSG, EDG has no catalogue; each project is scoped from scratch with a qualified consultant or vendor, which makes it the right choice when the work is too custom for an off-the-shelf solution. It suits SMEs undertaking a genuine transformation, such as a brand repositioning, a process redesign, or an overseas pilot. Our Enterprise Development Grant guide walks through the three pillars and how to scope a project that reviews well.

Overseas expansion

Market Readiness Assistance (MRA)

The Market Readiness Assistance grant is administered by Enterprise Singapore and supports SMEs taking their first steps into a new overseas market. It typically helps with overseas market promotion, business development, and setting up in a target market, within per-country limits. It suits SMEs that have a viable product at home and want to test or establish demand abroad without carrying the full cost of market entry alone. MRA pairs naturally with the overseas markets track of CCP, where reskilled staff support the expansion. Read the Market Readiness Assistance guide for the activities that typically qualify.

Company-wide transformation with worker buy-in

Company Training Committee (CTC) Grant

The Company Training Committee Grant is supported through NTUC and its training arm e2i. It helps companies implement transformation projects that a Company Training Committee, formed with union involvement, has identified. The distinctive feature is the emphasis on worker involvement: the committee helps align business transformation with workforce development so change is designed with staff rather than imposed on them. It suits unionised or union-friendly SMEs pursuing company-wide change where staff buy-in is central to success. See the Company Training Committee (CTC) Grant guide for how the committee route works.

Financing, not a grant

Enterprise Financing Scheme (EFS)

The Enterprise Financing Scheme is administered by Enterprise Singapore, and it is important to be clear that it is financing, not a grant. Under EFS, the government shares part of the default risk with participating financial institutions, which can make loans easier to obtain and can improve terms, but the funds are borrowed and must be repaid with interest. EFS covers several loan types spanning working capital, fixed assets, trade, and project financing. It suits SMEs with a cashflow or investment need rather than a co-funding need. Because it sits differently from every other scheme on this page, we cover it separately in the Enterprise Financing Scheme guide.

How to choose: a short decision framework

Rather than starting from a scheme name, start from what you are trying to do. The mapping below points you to a likely fit, which you can then confirm against the individual guides.

• Hiring or reskilling someone into a role: look at the Career Conversion Programme.
• Redesigning a role that already exists: look at job redesign support under WDG(JR+).
• Buying a productivity tool or piece of equipment: check the Productivity Solutions Grant catalogue first.
• Running a bespoke capability project: the Enterprise Development Grant is usually the vehicle.
• Expanding into an overseas market: Market Readiness Assistance, often paired with the overseas markets track of CCP.
• Company-wide transformation with worker buy-in: the Company Training Committee Grant.
• A buffer against training costs: the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit.
• Financing or cashflow, where borrowing is acceptable: the Enterprise Financing Scheme.

Grants can be layered

These schemes are not mutually exclusive. Grants can often be layered, meaning they are used together across different cost lines of a single plan, as long as no cost line is funded twice. A common pattern is an EDG-funded project for the consulting work, a PSG-funded tool adopted within that project, CCP salary support for the redesigned roles the project creates, and SFEC offsetting the residual training. The important caveat is that each scheme is governed by its own agency, and eligibility, caps, and rates are reviewed and changed from time to time. Any figure or rule described here is indicative rather than a guarantee. Before you commit, verify the current details for each scheme, and if it would help to have the layering mapped for your specific situation, that is exactly the kind of scoping BizGrants does.

→ See how BizGrants scopes and layers Singapore SME grants
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