The BRICS countries will continue to play a key role in the global economy although they reported slower growth in recent years, said an expert with the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Federico Bonaglia, deputy director of OECD Development Center, said in a recent interview with Xinhua that the slowdown in the growth of the BRICS economies will not have a significant impact on their joint share in the world economy.

"China and India continue to maintain a very sustained growth, a situation that both Russia and Brazil are expected to reach next year," Bonaglia said.

Latest OECD economic outlook expected a return to growth in Brazil and Russia. Meanwhile, China and India are projected to expand their GDP by more than 6 percent.

He noted that India is the only BRICS country that has not experienced a significant slowdown in the past few years, with a growth rate of around 8 percent in 2015 and 7.7 percent projected for 2018.

Brazil and Russia are poised for economic recovery, according to Bonaglia.

The Brazilian economy contracted 4 percent in 2015 and 3.6 percent in 2016. "The good news is that (it) is expected to return to a positive growth in 2017 and it will reach a growth rate between 1.5-1.6 percent in 2018," he estimated.

Russia, which has experienced "a very complicated situation," will also be able to shake off recession in 2017 and reach a growth rate around 1.4 percent, he said.

However, the outlook for South Africa remains clouded, said the expert, who puts the country's growth rate for 2017-2018 period at 1 percent.

Bonaglia told Xinhua that BRICS economies play a very important role by injecting dynamism into the world economy.

"In 2000, the BRICS represented 40 percent of the GDP. In 2010, they represented more than 50 percent and in 2015, they have reached 54.7 percent of world GDP," he recalled.

However, despite this strong progress, the BRICS are facing challenges in terms of productivity growth and innovation, the OECD expert noted. Enditem