Funds for the multipurpose Red-Dead Canal project's feasibility study and environmental assessment have been fully secured, local daily The Jordan Times reported on Monday.

"The two studies need 15 million U.S. dollars, but only 10.5 million dollars were previously raised. Sweden and South Korea recently presented 4 million dollars covering the deficit, allowing for the completion of the studies," said Jordan Valley Authority Secretary General Musa Jamaini, who heads the project's steering committee on the Jordanian side.

According to Jamaini, under the agreement between the two nations and concerned parties, 3 million dollars will be extended by the Swedish government and another 1 million dollars will be provided by South Korea.

French company Coyne et Bellier is currently carrying out the feasibility study for the project, while British firm Environmental Resources Management is undertaking the environmental assessment.

"The two companies are providing monthly progress reports to the project's steering committee, which includes representatives from the World Bank and the project's three parties (Jordan, Palestinians and Israel)," said Jamaini, noting that work on the studies is going according to schedule.

The Red-Dead Canal project is part of international efforts to save the Dead Sea, which has been shrinking at the rate of one meter per year and may dry up in five decades, experts have warned.

The environment-focused project seeks to pump 1 billion cubic meters of water annually into the Dead Sea with aims to raise water levels from 408 meters below sea level to 315 meters below sea level.

The project entails the construction of a 200-km canal along the border with Israel in Wadi Araba from Aqaba on the Red Sea to the Dead Sea.