Award-winning PDQ restaurants (People Dedicated to Quality) has signed a Master Franchise Agreement, and is launching its first international presence with EIC (Eastern Investment Company) based in Dubai – UAE. EIC has the rights to own, operate and open PDQ locations among 40 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS/FSU) and Baltic/EU regions. EIC group will launch PDQ starting this month with the first location under PQ (People for Quality), one of the PDQ trademarks, in Kazakhstan.

The partnership with EIC group will see more than 15 PDQ units opened overseas in the next five years. The first location is slated to open on September 30 inside the Mega Center mall in Almaty Kazakhstan. 

“This is an exciting time for our brand as we have signed our first international Master Franchise with some incredible partners,” said PDQ CEO and Co-Founder Nick Reader. “Our team of People Dedicated to Quality is looking forward to introducing our brand to the region as we have seen the enormous growth in the fast casual space in that area.”

“We are very excited to announce the opening of the first PDQ location in Almaty Kazakhstan as a first of many more cooperation with our amazing business partners at the PDQ team,” says EIC CEO Emam Anwar.

EIC’s Management has a long history of success, having opened and operated more than 1,500 American franchise restaurants in a region that spans across 15 counties. The agreement is more than two and a half years in the making, with both teams making visits to the region as well as current PDQ restaurants in the United States. 

“We are proud of the unparalleled support we have been receiving from our partners at the PDQ team, making us want to accelerate both a local and regional execution plan,” says EIC President Ahmed Al Alfi.