Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have officially signed the final contracts for the technical studies to be conducted on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Aswat Masriya reported on Tuesday.
The contracts were signed on Tuesday by the three nations and the two French consultancy firms conducting the studies and an English law firm overseeing the legal arrangements.
The documents were signed in a ceremony at a hotel in the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
Egypt's Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aaty expressed hope during the ceremony that the consultancy firms would conclude studies in accordance with the timeline and international standards, Aswat Masriya said.
The two French firms will conduct studies on the project to assess the cross-border environmental, social and economic impacts of the dam, Abdel Aaty added.
Ethiopia is scheduled to finish construction of the Renaissance Dam in 2017. Downstream countries, especially Egypt, fear a potential drought that would affect agriculture, industry and drinking water as a result of the dam's construction.
Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia signed the Document of Khartoum in December 2015, which asserted full compliance with the Declaration of Principles signed by the presidents of the three countries in March 2015.
The Declaration of Principles sets terms for cooperation between the three countries to take advantage of the Renaissance Dam and the waters of the Eastern Nile.
