One of the new agreements marks the first Romano's MacaroniGrill in the Middle East, said Charles Sonsteby, executive vicepresident and CFO of Brinker during the company's earningsconference call. "The next year looks incredibly bright as ourdevelopment partner looks to open 35 new Brinker-brandedrestaurants," he said, adding that Romano's Macaroni Grillrestaurants are planned for Jordan, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates,Oman and Egypt.

The second agreement allows Brinker to expand its Chili's brandin the United Arab Emirates. The franchisee plans to open 10 newrestaurants, according to a Brinker statement.

Sonsteby said that Brinker's international expansion hasaccelerated with these recent franchisee agreements. New restaurantdevelopment is a key strategy for the company, which either owned,operated, or franchised 1,580 restaurants under the names Chili'sGrill & Bar, Romano's Macaroni Grill, Maggiano's Little Italyand On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina at the end of thecompany's third quarter fiscal 2006.