Helpful information before you apply

• Is your business eligible for a Market Development Grant?
• What activities are funded?
• What costs are not funded?
• Tips on filling out the application form

Is your business eligible for a Market Development Grant?

To be eligible your business must:

• Have turnover of less than $50 million.  (If the business is a subsidiary of a larger company, the turnover of the parent company will be taken into account and must not exceed the eligibility cap of $50 million.)
• Operate in a commercial environment.
• Be a limited liability company, or a Maori trust incorporated under Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993
• Be registered in New Zealand for income tax and GST purposes
• Have the  financial resources to  cover all costs up-front. Market Development grants are paid out as a reimbursement.  
• Have a commitment to retain the value of your business in New Zealand
• Conduct business in a manner consistent with New Zealand laws and regulations
• Have a budgeted plan for your market development activities
  

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What activities are funded?

Your project must:

• Be a new market development initiative - the fund cannot be used for “business as usual” activities. See What do you mean by business as usual?
• Be expected to bring a significant improvement in your business situation, and eventually lead to increased revenue growth. 
• Involve implementing a market development plan, rather than developing a strategy. For help developing a market development strategy see EDG Capability Building
• Relate to entering new export markets, or expanding activity in an existing export market.

The activities funded are:

• Market visits necessary to implement a new strategic market development initiative. The purpose of a visit can include attending trade events and developing business relationships.
• In-market representation, such as costs related to setting up and maintaining representation in new international markets. This can include the cost of a full-time staff member working in the market. 
• Advertising and promotion:
  • Advertising placement costs
  • Costs for creating and producing material, graphic design, content creation and editing
  • Costs to produce visual material including photography and filming
  • Transport costs for sample products and/or marketing collateral
• Marketing collateral to support in market activity.  This can include point of sale material, material needed to create and maintain relationships in-market, and material needed for trade fairs.
• Trade fairs and events. We help fund the cost of attending and exhibiting at international trade fairs, including attendance fees for relevant events.
• Market research required to execute an international market development strategy can be funded. This can include commissioning studies on local market structures, consumers and competitors. Market research services provided by NZTE are excluded, as are internal costs for the generation of market information.

** Each claim must be for a minimum of $10,000 (meaning companies need to have spent at least $20,000 on eligible activities and costs). Claims must total at least $20,000 in any one year.

For more information on eligible activities see:

Schedule of eligible and ineligible costs (PDF, 48 KB)
Flight allowance sheet (PDF, 30 KB)
Daily allowance sheet (PDF, 20 KB)

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What costs are not funded?

• Costs relating to market development activity in Australia.
• Costs relating to ‘business as usual’ – that is normal business activities and operating expenses, spending not related to the strategic market development initiative, business set up costs and buying assets 
• Costs related to existing roles in-market or in New Zealand
• Costs related to transfer pricing or discounts 
• Costs related to commissions
• Intellectual property costs and prototype design, development and testing 
• Costs that were not incurred, including redemption of loyalty rewards such as air miles or air points
• Work done by any subsidiary/associate/parent company
• Work done by immediate family of the applicant, the applicant’s employees or the employees/office holders of any subsidiary/associate/ parent companies
• Costs of anyone with a financial interest in the project/activity (e.g. shareholders of the applicant company)
• Costs related to activities that are supported by another government assistance programme, or where an application is being made to another government assistance programme. 
• Cost of, or directly related to applying for, assistance from NZTE 
• Activity that is better supported by other agencies
• Cost incurred before the application has undergone a full risk assessment  
  

If you also receive Capability Building fund, the total amount you can receive from both sources is capped at $100,000 a year.

**This list is a guide only and NZTE reserves the right to exclude other costs where appropriate. Talk to your client manager to clarify what costs of your project will be covered. 

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Tips on filling out the application form

NZTE uses your application form to decide whether your business and your project are eligible for funding. So it is essential that you provide all the information requested.

You should already have most of this information to hand, either from your normal business records or from your business and project plans. Gathering it together can be a useful way to review the strength of your project and your business’ ability to successfully complete it.   

If information is missing, your application will be returned.

Missing or incomplete information is the most common reason why applications are delayed.

Before you send your application double check that it includes the following:

• Background information about your business, its markets, and key parties involved in the business
• Information about the market development project or activities you will undertake, including costs and timeframes.
• Information about the expected impact of the market development plan on your competitive position and future revenue growth 
• Information on how you will pay for your market development plan. Remember, funding is provided on a reimbursement basis, so you will need sufficient cash flow to finance up-front costs of the project until reimbursement occurs
• A copy of your international market development plan or business plan. This needs to detail a clear strategy for what you are trying to achieve and how you will do it. Applications can be declined because they have no, or very vague, strategic plans.  If you do not already have one, then preparing one will be valuable for your business.  
• A set of the latest end-of-year financial reports. If these are not audited we require them as prepared for your tax return. This must include a Statement of Cash Flow
• A set of year-to-date management accounts. So if your latest end of year financial reports are for the year ending March 31, we need management accounts covering your financial performance from April to whenever you apply.
• Ensure your application form has been signed in the correct places by a director of the company, not a manager. Applications signed by managers will be returned
• Ensure the form includes your registration number. This number was given to you when you registered online to access the application form. NZTE uses it to track applications and your form will be returned if you do not include the registration number

For more information see Is my information kept confidential?