The BRICS countries have been deepening their coordination and cooperation in recent years, but there is still room for further development of the bloc, a leading Russian political expert says.

Vyacheslav Nikonov, head of the board of the National Committee for BRICS Studies, said BRICS, which consists of the major emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has witnessed steady development of its member states, especially in the field of economy and trade.

"BRICS countries have been quite successful in the past years. Some of them have not even experienced the economic crisis or, at least, managed to preserve tangible economic growth in the period when the developed countries were experiencing serious problems," Nikonov told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"Now they all have already completed recovery from the crisis and are the main engines of the global economic growth, first of all, China and India," he added.

Nikonov applauded the economic and trade cooperation among BRICS countries, saying some have become the others' largest trading partners.

"For example, China has become such a partner of Russia, overtaking Germany in 2010 for the first time," he said.

"Their trade volume grows, as well as commodities and goods, mutual investments and so on," he added.

Nikonov also spoke highly of the BRICS countries' coordination on international affairs, saying they "have manifested their political cooperation several times in the UN, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank."

"The countries have made much efforts to push the world toward a more just economic and political order," he said.

But still, the countries have huge potential to further promote their cooperation in economy and other fields, Nikonov added.

Citing the planned creation of an independent BRICS bank, he said "If this could be done, it will become a major breakthrough both in relations among the five countries and in global financial architecture."

It is a chance, he said, "to build a dynamite international financial banking structure" which represents the developing countries.

The BRICS member states have been in rather healthy financial shape, in contrast to the Western countries, which are suffering from serious debts and budget deficiency problems, he explained.

Meanwhile, Nikonov called for bigger roles for the BRICS countries in the IMF and other financial institutions.

"Obviously, when BRICS becomes a large global economic player, as it increases its contribution to the IMF and other financial institutions, naturally it will demand not only to increase its voting share but also to participate in the managing of these structures," Nikonov said.

"I am optimistic about the BRICS' future," he added.