Bangladesh to speed up gas talks

The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, has urged senior officials to speed up negotiations with international companies on exploration and development rights for the country's gas reserves.

Talks with twenty one companies were due to end earlier this month.

Sheikh Hasina has also said she wants as many companies as possible involved in the process, which correspondents say would increase competition but is not a strategy that has been welcomed by the companies.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service