Pauric Duffy from Holigen told Lusa News Agency that he expects the investment will lead to the creation of some 200 jobs.

"We received our production license this year and we are building our facilities in Sintra (21,500 square metres) and Aljustrel (7,000,000 square metres). If the entire licensing process goes as planned, in the third quarter of 2019 we will be fully operational in Sintra and, in 2020, in Aljustrel”, said Duffy.

"The process to produce medical cannabis is fully compliant with GMP [good practice] rules and is strictly pharmaceutical," said Pauric Duffy, noting that "this process follows the following steps: growing, harvesting, drying, extracting pharmaceutical ingredients, preparation of pharmaceutical grade products, packaging and marketing ".

He added that the goal is for production to be for the Portuguese market and also for export.

"Holigen has access to markets in more than 35 countries worldwide and has distribution and trade agreements in several European countries, including Germany, Poland, the UK and Ireland. We intend to produce 500 tonnes of cannabis annually to satisfy the demand of the global market, including Portugal, "he explained.

In terms of exports, "our main focus at the moment is Europe and Australasia, but we have the desire to be, in the near future, a supplier worldwide”, he added.