01 | Toku Establishes UAE Subsidiary and Expands Talabat Deployment

As of 2026-09-12, Toku’s latest move shows that technology service providers seeking enterprise and public-sector projects in the Gulf increasingly need a local legal entity as the operational foundation for contracting, hiring and tender participation. Singapore-listed customer-experience technology company Toku has established a wholly owned UAE subsidiary, Toku Technology L.L.C., while expanding its deployment with food-delivery platform Talabat across eight Middle Eastern markets.

Toku said the new entity was incorporated on 2026-08-24 and is its first in-country subsidiary in the Middle East. It enables the company to contract, invoice and hire in the UAE, as well as participate in government and semi-government tenders across the UAE and the wider Gulf. Toku began expanding its Middle East business in 2025-12, and its regional footprint has since grown from two markets to eight. Its Talabat deployment now supports more than 8,000 users.

Product localization is advancing alongside the commercial expansion. In 2026-06, Toku signed a memorandum of understanding with Turkish conversational AI company SESTEK. The companies plan to strengthen support for Gulf Arabic dialects, multilingual code-switching and locally hosted deployments for institutional customers with data-residency requirements. Toku reported that customer satisfaction in the relevant deployment rose to approximately 80%—an increase of more than 20%—after voice capabilities were added to digital customer service. These figures are company-reported, and actual results may depend on project workflows and measurement methods.

For Chinese business-service providers planning to enter Gulf markets, the key lesson is not the scale of a single customer account, but the combination of capabilities required for regional delivery: a local entity for contracting and hiring, multi-market deployment, Arabic-language adaptation and data-hosting arrangements that meet customer requirements. Toku is participating in several government and semi-government opportunities in the region, but has not disclosed their value or status.

Source: TNGlobal, 2026-09-10

Other updates

  • 02 | Saudi Ports Authority Handles 15.2 Million Tonnes of Cargo in August: Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) reported cargo throughput of 15.2 million tonnes in 2026-08. (Source: Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani), 2026-09-11)
  • 03 | ITWorx and Red Sea Global Sign MoU for Saudi Gigaprojects: ITWorx and Red Sea Global signed a memorandum of understanding to advance cooperation on Saudi gigaprojects. (Source: Red Sea Global, 2026-09-11)
  • 04 | Red Sea Global Hotels and Airport Run on Renewable Energy: Red Sea Global’s hotels and airport are now powered by renewable energy. (Source: Red Sea Global, 2026-09-10)
  • 05 | Red Sea Global Adds Direct Abu Dhabi–Red Sea International Airport Flight: Red Sea Global announced a new direct flight from Abu Dhabi to Red Sea International Airport. (Source: Red Sea Global, 2026-09-10)
  • 06 | Jumeirah Opens Al Wathba Desert Resort: Jumeirah Group announced the opening of Al Wathba Desert Resort. (Source: Jumeirah Group, 2026-09-11)
  • 07 | Armenia and UAE Discuss Access to Major Dubai Retail Chains: Armenia and the UAE discussed bringing Armenian products into major retail chains in Dubai. (Source: LuLu Group International, 2026-09-09)
  • 08 | Qatar Calls for Deeper GCC Tourism Cooperation: Qatar called for stronger regional tourism cooperation at a meeting of GCC tourism ministers. (Source: Qatar Tourism, 2026-09-10)
  • 09 | LuLu Group Establishes Food Processing and Export Hub in Italy: LuLu Group opened a food processing and export hub in Italy to organize food processing and exports for its retail network. (Source: LuLu Group International, 2026-09-11)
  • 10 | Jabal Akhdar Named GCC Tourism Capital: Oman’s Jabal Akhdar was named the GCC Tourism Capital. (Source: Oman Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, 2026-09-11)
  • 11 | Oman Welcomes 81,797 Indian Visitors in May: Oman received 81,797 visitors from India in 2026-05; the Oman Ministry of Heritage and Tourism said it would pursue growth driven by tourism quality. (Source: Oman Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, 2026-09-11)

Last updated: September 2026. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice.