Export Market Development Grant applications open

Applications opened on Monday for Export Market Development Grants, which are available to companies with revenues up to $20 million and offer a maximum of $150,000 support per year.

The recently-reformed EMDG program offers three tiers of support.

• Tier 1 is for first-time exporters who are ready to export. This has a two-year agreement and a maximum of $40,000 a year support.
• Tier 2 is classed “expanding”, and is a three-year grant agreement coming with a maximum of $80,000 support a year.
• Tier 3 is for companies expanding export promotion activities “and making a strategic shift, for example targeting a new market or a new type of customer.” This tier is a three-year agreement valued at up to $150,000 per year.

The EMDG ‘s reforms took effect on July 1, changing it from a reimbursement to a grant program. This followed the recommendations of a review headed by wine entrepreneur Anna Fisher.

The 2021/22 financial year is transitional for the program, and “both the reimbursement scheme and grant program will run concurrently,” according to Austrade.

The reforms also lowered the maximum annual revenue of recipients from $50 million to $20 million.

In the last financial year, the top market for grants was the US (56.9 per cent of recipients) followed by the UK (25.3 per cent) and China (17.5 per cent.)

Applications are open until 5 pm AEDT on November 30. More information can be found at the Austrade website here.

Featured picture: www.blumeglobal.com

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