Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Abdel Aaty arrived to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum along with a delegation to sign several contracts for the consultation offices assigned to study the implications of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on countries downriver. The two foreign consultation offices are expected to issue the results of their studies in 10 to 12 months. Ethiopia previously announced its stance on these offices, saying that the results of the studies will be respected, but are not obligatory. It also said that the results may be taken into consideration in the operation process of the dam, but will not affect its construction. Ethiopia will have completed the construction of GERD by the time these consultation offices issue the results of their studies. Professor of Water Resources Nader Nour Al-Din previously told Daily News Egypt that Ethiopia brought up the consultation offices issue to win time. The consultation offices contracts were supposed to be signed in August 2014, but the three countries kept postponing the measure. In March 2015, the three countries signed a declaration of principles whereby they agreed on the construction of the dam, however technical studies will be conducted to guarantee that each country's water share will not be affected.
