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The Legoland Malaysia theme park will be a 15-minute drive from the Malaysian immigration checkpoint at the Second Link which leads to Tuas.
The park will have a built-up area of about 51ha, equivalent to the area of about 72 football fields. In comparison, the Universal Studios theme park coming up at the Sentosa integrated resort will be 20ha in size.
Legoland Malaysia will be the second such project outside of the US and Europe, with Legoland Dubai slated to open in 2011 - two years earlier than the one in Johor.
There are also Legoland parks in Denmark, Germany, the United States and Britain.
The Johor entertainment park forms part of the ambitious Iskandar development region which Malaysia wants to build up as an economic, leisure and residential hub next door to Singapore.
Last month, the government gave details of international names which are coming to Iskandar's education hub, including Newcastle University's medical faculty, a British boarding school and a Swiss hospitality school.
Speaking at the signing ceremony for Legoland Malaysia yesterday, the chairman of government-backed Iskandar Investment, Mr Azman Mokhtar, said: 'This is a significant first step in developing Iskandar Malaysia as an international tourist destination.'
He sees the project attracting 'more tourists from neighbouring countries and the Asia-Pacific region'.
Legoland Malaysia will be managed by Merlin Entertainments, which manages all Legoland parks as well as attractions such as Madame Tussauds and the London Eye in Britain.
The Johor park is 20 per cent owned by Merlin and 80 per cent by Iskandar Investment.
Merlin is owned by US private equity firm Blackstone Group, Dubai International Capital and Lego Holding/Kirkbi.
Officials said while details of the Malaysian park are still being worked out, it will be based on what is found in the other Legoland parks.
Some 55 million Lego bricks were used in Britain's Windsor Legoland, including those used to form a near-lifesize replica of a Boeing 747 jet's cockpit.
In Legoland California, 35 million Lego bricks were used to shape a dinosaur and an Egyptian pharaoh, among other attractions.
Mr John Jakobsen, managing director of Legoland Parks, said he expects visitors to the Johor attraction to top one million.
For Singaporeans, the Johor park with its 40 attractions will be the closest to home after the Universal Studios park in Sentosa, which is slated to open in 2010.
Asked whether Universal Studios Singapore will pose competition to the Johor park, Mr Jakobsen said: 'I think it will be very complementary. They are completely two different products.'
Other theme parks in the region include the 126ha Hong Kong Disneyland, the 51ha Tokyo Disneyland and the 49ha Tokyo DisneySea.
Tourism hot spot
'This is a significant first step in developing Iskandar Malaysia as an international tourist destination.'
MR AZMAN MOKHTAR, chairman of government- backed Iskandar Investment
