“As the world continues to face well-documented economic challenges, the trade forecast suggests grounds for optimism for international businesses. Despite the current climate, the overall trend for international trade is positive, with growth acceleration sooner than expected from 2014, rather than 2015,” the report said.

“Over the next five years it is forecast that world trade will grow at an annualized rate of 3.78%, due primarily to the expectation of an earlier recovery of the overall global economy,” the report said. Meanwhile, Russian trade will grow at an annualized rate of 5.99% over the next five years.

From 2017 to 2021, there will be even more rapid annualized growth in world trade at 6.23%, as world demand for traded goods becomes more dynamic. Meanwhile, Russia will have an annualized growth in trade of 7.56% during that period.

“This equates to growth, indexed to a base of 2011, of 165.54%, the result of the strengthening of trade relations with countries within the Asia Pacific region, particularly after 2015. Annualized total trade growth in Russia over the next 15 years will be 6.08%, which is the rate at which companies will need to increase their international activities if they are to keep pace with this change,” the report said.

World trade is predicted to grow by 86% in the next 15 years, taking total trade activity in that year to $53.8 trillion (compared to $28.9 trillion predicted for 2012).

“The trade forecast expects that Russian trade will perform increasingly better than the world average over the next 15 years. This not only demonstrates the strength of Russian trade, which is driven by exports of commodities, such as oil and coal, and by the demand for motor vehicles and technology, but also the benefits of the trade relationships that are emerging between Russia and countries within the Asia Pacific region, such as the Philippines, Hong Kong, and China, which are forecast to account for accelerated world trade growth after 2015,” the report said.

“Russia’s largest export partner is China, forecast to grow annually over the next five years by 6.96%,” the report said.

“Its other two largest export partners are Turkey and the Netherlands. Exports to both of these will grow significantly over the next five years. India is Russia’s fastest growing large export partner, with a forecast growth of 11.48%. This will be driven partly by growth in the export volumes of commodities and infrastructural materials such as iron and steel. Exports to Japan are set to increase by 9.7% annually over the next five years, driven by exports of non-crude and refined oil, forecast to increase by 14.14% and 10.31% respectively. Growth in the export of oil is also set to drive trade with many emerging export partners. Trade with Latvia is forecast to increase at an annualized rate of 10.66%, with exports of non-crude oil growing by 13.72% to 2016,” the report said.

“Russia’s largest import partner is China, growing by 11% annually over the next five years. This will mostly be driven by imports of consumer electronics and commodities. For example, electric devices for line telephony and communications is forecast to grow by 15.20%. Russia’s third largest import partner is the U.S., with growth in imports predicted at 8.7% over the next five years. Growth will be mainly fuelled again by consumer electronics, but imports of printing and ancillary machinery will also grow,” the report said.

“Emerging import partners in the Asia Pacific and Latin America will become increasingly important; imports from Vietnam are forecast to grow by 12.37% and from Paraguay  by 11.82%,” it said.

“Russia’s oil sector is highly innovative and dominates global oil supply; therefore, growing global demand for oil will likely fuel its economic growth. Companies will need to expand international activities by between 5.21% and 7.43% in order to take advantage of the opportunities in these sectors,” the report said.

“Metals account for five of Russia’s top ten largest export sectors and are expected to be areas of substantial growth over the next five years. Unwrought steel, unwrought nickel, semi-finished products of iron, and non-alloy steel are the products integral to Russian export trade. Demand for these sectors is predominantly driven by infrastructural development.

Companies seeking to benefit should increase their international activity by at least 4.83% over the next five years,” HSBC said.

“The international business world isn’t prepared to sit back and wait for the outcome of ongoing conversations about the economic recovery. Where once businesses followed economic investment, now, forward-thinking companies are leading the way. Whether taking advantage of shorter-term growth in international trade, which despite economic uncertainty sits at $1 trillion a year, or by creating new supply chains that open up trade corridors, businesses are connecting themselves to future opportunities,” Group Managing Director and Global Head of HSBC Commercial Banking Alan Keir is quoted as saying in the press release.

HSBC’s report notes how “innovative business activity is reshaping the trading world. It identifies new and emerging trade hubs – countries that are developing or expanding their role as gateways in key trade corridors or between regions.”

“Egypt, for example, is identified as a fast growing trade nation, due in part to its role as a route between Africa and Europe. This growth is underpinned by a stabilizing political situation and investment in infrastructure. Turkey and Malta are already known as gateways between Europe and the Middle East, and the report shows that their trade activity continues to grow,” HSBC said.

“The speed at which international businesses will have to grow their revenue, contacts, assets, operations, and workforce to achieve this level of predicted growth may feel challenging for some, but we believe that it is achievable if they take advantage of the significant international growth opportunities outside their traditional markets. In the short-term, the rapid pace of economic development in emerging nations, coupled with slow domestic growth in developed nations, will continue to drive this trend,” Keir is quoted as saying in the report.