Denim Expert (DEL), Bangladesh has announced it has received support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development's ‘develoPPP.de programme,’ which subsidises sustainable projects in developing and emerging markets. These types of developmental collaborations with the private sector are aimed at creating developmental effectiveness to improve the living conditions in developing and emerging markets.

The program is co-financed by the DEG (German Investment and Development Company). In order to strengthen the denim business in the long term, the textile industry's social and ecological standards must be improved. The develoPPP.de programme supports DEL financially and structurally to enable us to put our sustainable ideas into practice, said Mostafiz Uddin, CEO Denim Expert Ltd.

The vertically integrated company DEL, which operates from Chittagong, describes itself as a leader in sustainability which helped it receive German support. The developmental collaboration was launched in December 2015 and is designed for two years. DEL also qualified for the programme due to its great commitment regarding the reduction of water and energy consumption as well as the use of chemicals. This is exactly where the denim industry struggles: To achieve the typical "used look" of jeans, traditional factories apply many washings and chemicals. Responsibility toward natural resources such as gas, oil, and water, or the reduction of chemicals and proper waste water treatment are hardly found.