DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Canadian coffee and doughnut chain Tim Hortons (TSX:THI) is looking to brew up new business across Arab Gulf states.

The chain's local franchise partner, Apparel Group, confirmed Wednesday that it plans to open 120 shops under the Tim Hortons name in the next five years.

Under an agreement disclosed earlier this year, Apparel Group is to open stores in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.

Already, homesick, doughnut-loving Canadians have flocked to a Tim Hortons store that opened in Dubai last month, the company's first location in the Persian Gulf region.

Not be outdone, Tim Hortons' competitors such as Dunkin' Donuts, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and Starbucks have already set up shop in the region.

Based in Oakville, Ont., Tim Hortons is Canada's biggest restaurant chain and the fourth-biggest in North America with more than 3,700 restaurants on the continent.

Though it has already opened extensive operations in the United States, self-serve kiosks in the U.K. and a temporary location at Kandahar Airfield for troops in Afghanistan, the Dubai store is its first full-serve restaurant outside of North America.

"We have got some smaller self-serve operations in Ireland but this is what I believe is our first true export of the brand," CEO Paul House said at the time.

Despite the move into the Gulf states, House said the coffee-and-doughnut chain is in no rush to enter another country and isn't committed to a vigorous timetable for international expansion.

"We're promising very little at this point," House said.

Instead, the chain plans to keep international efforts focused on the U.S. market, where it says it is making inroads through non-traditional stores such as kiosks in places like gas stations and universities.

-- With files from The Canadian Press