ONE of the world's biggest development companies flew into the region yesterday and said it was serious about transforming the Tees Valley.

Emaar Properties, responsible for turning Dubai into a thriving city from a desert outpost, is planning to perform the same economic miracle in Teesside.

His Excellency Mohamed Ali Alabbar - Dubai's economic development minister and head of Emaar - flies into Teesside today and will meet Prime Minister Tony Blair tonight to discuss ambitious development plans.

Yesterday, Emaar chief executive AJ Jaganathan said: "We are very serious about this, otherwise I would not have flown my senior colleagues in to look at the sites available for development.

"I work about 14 hours a day, seven days a week, and I would not take the time out to visit if we were not very serious about investing.

"But this is not going to happen overnight. It has to be worked through the system.

"Once we go back and digest what we have seen here we will probably want to come back again a couple of times before we make any commitment. But we believe we can make this happen."

Accompanying Mr Jaganathan were Emaar's head of finance and his head of risk assessment, who will analyse the risk involved with investment in the Tees Valley.

Mayor of Middlesbrough Ray Mallon arranged the visit with Emaar, which is building the world's tallest tower in Dubai, when he was on a fact-finding mission in the United Arab Emirates last year.

Yesterday, Mr Mallon gave a speech to Tees Valley business leaders and the Dubai delegation after showing Emaar - from the air - the sites he hopes they will invest in.

He said: "I think there is an excellent chance that Emaar will invest in the area. Tony Blair is meeting His Excellency and that is an indication of how serious this is."

He added: "I am a man that deals in evidence and I have an abundance of evidence that Middlesbrough and the Tees Valley is ripe for takeover.

"I want to see the region compete with everywhere in the country and everywhere in the world.

"We have to be visionary. If we can have an economic miracle in Dubai you can have an economic miracle in the Tees Valley.

"This is the field of dreams - and if we build, they will come. If we don't build they will never come."

The Dubai visitors were flown over several sites - including Middlehaven, in Middlesbrough, the Haughton Road development, in Darlington, North Bank, in Stockton, and Hartlepool - to show them the areas in which they could invest.

They also met officials from Hartlepool Borough Council, who highlighted the proposed £500m Victoria Harbour redevelopment scheme at the town's docks, next to the marina.

Emaar is responsible for world-class hotels in Dubai, including a hotel shaped like a sail and another in the shape of a wave.

Mr Mallon said: "We want Middlesbrough to be a designer-label town.

"I want it to compete with every city in the country by being different.

"Emaar does not see boundaries to what they want to do."

Mr Jaganathan said he was impressed by Mr Mallon's leadership skills and said that was what attracted the company to the area.

"If the leadership is willing to break the mould it brings a certain charisma to the mix and you can achieve anything," he said.

Emaar, which had a turnover of $2bn (£1.1bn) last year, specialises in residential developments, commercial developments, business parks, retail parks and leisure.

Stephen Wallace, Hartlepool council's cabinet member for regeneration and planning, said: "The potential for securing hundreds of millions of pounds of investment for Hartlepool is there, and I want to ensure that no effort is spared in trying to bring the money here.