The Iskander development region in Southern Malaysia could soon be transformed into a major theme park hub with news that local officials are in talks with several overseas theme park operators.

Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda) chief executive officer Datuk Ismail Ibrahim said that within five years there could be eight major theme parks open in the region.

Negotiations are currently in progress with theme park operators from Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Europe and North America.

“The size of the new theme parks will range between 20.23 hectares and 40.46 hectares and they could be either outdoor or indoor theme parks,” Ismail said.

The region currently has three parks – Legoland Malaysia Theme Park, the Hello Kitty Indoor Theme Park @ Puteri Harbour, and Angry Birds @ JBCC.

A fourth, a water park, is under construction at Taman Mount Austin.

“The theme parks in Iskandar Malaysia will cater for all age groups and the whole family including youngsters, teenagers and adults,” Ismail said, adding that one of the new attractions would be a Japanese style video game theme park.

Each of the new developments would cost from RM500 million up to RM1 billion, he said.