With prolonged Covid-19 lockdown rules around the world keeping travellers from setting foot in the Kingdom, hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, passenger transportation services and other businesses that cater to international tourists stand unusually empty and under unprecedented financial strain.

This has driven the hospitality sector to recalibrate their processes and reconsider fundamental strategies to keep businesses from going under.

Passenger transport bus company Virak Buntham Express Tour & Travel has devoted more resources over to spearheading the Cambodian express delivery sector during these trying times, to resounding success.

Thou Vireak, a business reporter at The Post, sat down with Virak Buntham director-general Suo Vireak to discuss the business’ situation in the transport marketplace and overall foreseeable direction against the backdrop of Covid-19.

How has Covid-19 affected your business?

We’ve lost a fair share of international guests and even domestic ones since they shuttered the borders with Thailand and Vietnam in a bid to prevent the spread of Covid-19. My company, at all branches that offer passenger services, saw ridership plummet by 60 per cent in the first 10 months of 2020.

And the reason we’re not getting as many passengers as we did before is the economic downturn, which in turn has led to a disruption of people’s flow of business.

There’s no need to cut down on travel by public transport, at a time when people are apprehensive of catching Covid-19, but I’ve noted that several other bus companies have closed.

Of note, our express delivery service grew by almost 300 per cent in the first 10 months of this year.

And what caused the express delivery service to grow?

After setting up the service, Virak Buntham got a leg up on the competition in sending goods to all parts, and faster.

The surge comes as a result of our expansion from 60 to 300 branches nationwide. This is precisely what led to the increase in express delivery. We’ve expanded everywhere, reaching villages and islands no matter how remote.

We deliver right to your door, we make it easier for you, and our services are very extensive.

Emerging technologies also added kindling to this growth. Online shopping has become more and more engrained into our people, whereas not that long ago they had no knowledge of it, nor did they have any trust in the online space.

But now they are getting to know how to engage the online world and are putting their trust behind it. Even those across the provinces or in the countryside can now easily buy things and know that they will be provided via a convenient delivery service.

The fear of Covid-19 infection also helped buoy growth in the service seeing as how people just don’t want to go to the market anymore, and those in the provinces wouldn’t dare come to Phnom Penh.

No longer buying anything in person, they take to ordering things online, which are then shipped out via my company and arrive safely at their destinations.

What motivated Virak Buntham to develop the service?

Developing our express delivery service just wasn’t a priority back in the day.

But then we took one hard look at our neighbours Thailand, Vietnam and China and their highly-endorsed express delivery firms.

We then seized the opportunity to build up the sector in our country. Out of the starting gate, everything seemed to be going well, though we only delivered packages by bus then.

But when the chance to progress reared its head, we began to roll out more trucks to fulfil shorter-distance deliveries.

What does the competition look like in the express delivery industry?

Virak Buntham’s main competitors today are international companies, which we actively vie to one-up, them and their many branches abroad. We are a local firm in mid-transformation into an international one, we will contend with them.

As a local company, we are lucky to have taken the opportunity to tap into the domestic market before they did. We know the culture of the people better, we know geographical locations more clearly, and most of all, we understand the hearts of our customers more than they do.

In addition, our team has many years of experience in the field of passenger and freight transportation.

And how is Virak Buntham’s overseas business?

We operate in Vietnam and Thailand, and just started in China on December 1, shipping goods from a warehouse in Guangzhou, China.

In my view, the Chinese market is bigger than those in Thailand and Vietnam because most goods are imported from China. Even our customers who ship goods from Thailand buy them from China.

In particular, the signing of a Cambodia-China bilateral free trade agreement will accelerate the economic flow in Asia, increasing the use of freight services.

In the future, many goods will be shipped from China to Cambodia, hence the Kingdom will act as a supply hub where double taxation can be avoided. People can buy things from Cambodia or from China.

Our nascent international businesses are by no means comprehensive, but in the long-term outlook, we will be shipping even larger loads of cargo by sea and air. A plan to launch a direct shipment service from Europe is also on the cards.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.