The Egyptian, Sudanese and Ethiopian water resources and irrigation ministers have agreed to continue their technical discussions on all unresolved issues concerning the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project during their next meeting, slated for January 9-10 in Addis Ababa, Egypt's Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said in a statement.

This came on  Sunday 22/12/2019 at the conclusion of their third round of talks over the dam that is under-construction on Ethiopia's Blue Nile, a main tributary of the River Nile that provides more than 90 percent of Egypt’s fresh water, the statement pointed out.

The meeting had kicked off on Saturday in Khartoum in the presence of representatives of the US Department of Treasury and the World Bank group.

According to the statement,  during their talks, the ministers continued discussions over the outcome of the first round in Ethiopia in mid-November and the second one that Cairo hosted early this month, in a bid to reach an  agreement on the rules of filling and operating the dam and its reservoir based on Cairo's desire to hammer    out a fair and balanced deal in this regard.

Egypt that is negotiating for an agreement that would serve the interests of the countries involved and harmonize between the functioning of the High Aswan Dam and GERD while filling the latter's reservoir, has said repeatedly that it is seeking to ensure sustainability of the river's water and achieve common interests.

MENA