BUYING presents can pose a dilemma - one which I'm sure many of you are wrestling with as the festive season approaches.

But what do you buy the man who has eveything - or at least enough wealth to buy anything he desires.

I'm in Dubai as I write this, witnessing first hand the incredible success story that has turned a desert into one of the world's most successful economies in just 25 years.

One of the principals behind that success is His Excellency Mohammed Ali Alabbar, Dubai's Minister for Economic Development.

He is also chairman of EMAAR - a business consortium set up in 1997 which has effectively overseen the strategic planning and development of the state.

EMAAR has 41,000 shareholders, mostly local residents and workers who all benefit from its success. That really is a stakeholder philosophy.

As well as hopefully letting us in on a few secrets of his success, His Excellency is also hosting a dinner for us in his own home. Naturally, we felt it important to mark our appreciation with a gift, and hence the dilemma.

Fortunately, we received intelligence that his son is a keen football fan. Middlesbrough Football Club kindly provided two signed shirts so our present problems were sorted. The odds on him already having such a shirt must be long.

Of course, the greatest gift we have received in return is the very fact that the people behind Dubai's success have agreed to see us in the first place.

No doubt the usual suspects will have had a sneer at our ambition to copy the Dubai success story, but frankly they are not worth wasting breath on.

People like His Excellency are not simply motivated by money or status, I believe they have a willingness to help their fellow man. Perhaps there is something in our determination to move Middlesbrough forward that has struck a chord with our hosts.

You cannot help but be impressed by Dubai. Innovation and imagination have combined to make it a spectacular experience. A walk along the marina opens the mind to a new world of possibilities.

Hotels do not have to be rectangular boxes. The Jumeirah Beach, for example, is wave shaped, while another rises like a giant sail and, if the best marine life needs a coral reef, the solution is simple - build one.

The world's first floating hotel is here, but there's no law that says the second one cannot be in the dock at Middlehaven.

It's easy to dismiss the success of Dubai as simply down to money, but the reality is that the oil supplies of Dubai were only modest in comparison to the rest of the region.

But what money there was has been carefully spent by the ruling Al Maktoum family and visionaries like HE Alabbar, building up an economy that should secure the future for generations to come.

With vast tracts of land now ready for building on, I believe the Tees Valley is in the same position as Dubai was 25 years ago, a desert ripe for development.

The decisions leaders make in the next few years will make or break the area for future generations. We have to follow the Dubai blueprint for success, be bold, brave and imaginative.