标题：SEA of opportunity

South-eastern technology firms are run a hot streak, can it last?

When UBER came to South-East Asia, the Silicon Valley ride-hailing gain coaxed customers into cabs with free ice cream, a tactic it had deployed in Western markets.

ride-hailing (n) : 网约车
coaxe (v)：哄骗
cab (n)：的士，出租车
tactic (n)：策略，手段

Grab, a local rival based in singapore, plied reders with durian, a pungent tropical fruit that repels many westerner.

ply sb with sth ：给某人大量提供某物
durian (n)：榴莲
pungent (adj)：刺鼻的
repel (v)：使厌恶、恶心

GrabDurian, as it called the effort, delivered serveral varieties of the fruit (as well as desserts made from the stuff). After years of brutal rivalry Grab acquired Uber's South-East Asian operations in 2018.

brutal (adj)：残酷的
acquire (v)：收购

The tale lives on as a lesson for doing business in the region, which is home to nearly 700m people. Digital servies such as ride-hailing and food delivery can thrive -- so long as they adapt the local conditions.

tale (n)：故事
live on ：继续存在

Now it is Western investors who are salivating. In the past year South-East Asia's internet-startup scene has got hotter than Thai chili peppers.

salivate (v)：垂涎
Thai chili peppers ：泰国辣椒

The market capitalisation of Sea, another Singaporean group that listed in New York in 2017, has quintupled in the past year, to a mighty $125bn.

market capitalisation (n)：市值
allude to：暗指、影射
shorthand (n)：简称
quintuple (v)：成为五倍

On April 13th Grab said it would go public on New York's Nasdap stock exchange by merging with a special-purpose acquisiton company. The deal values the company at nearly $40bn.

Wall Street, in other words, has finally woken up to South-East Asia's great promise. The region is more populous than the European Union or North America.

Wealthy, English-speaking Singapore at South-East Asia's heart is a global financial centre, with all the bankers, lawyers, consultants, admen and creative types that a modern firm needs.

文章来源于《经济学人》