Washington - Representatives of US president-elect Barack Obama said Saturday after meeting with leaders of some of the nations gathered in Washington to address the global economic crisis that he would continue to work with world leaders on the matter after he takes office.

Obama did not attend the summit of the leaders of Group of 20 nations hosted by President George W Bush in Washington, stressing that he is not yet the US leader. Instead, he sent former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and former congressman Jim Leach to meet with world leaders on his behalf.

"The President-elect believes that the G20 summit of leaders from the world's largest economies is an important opportunity to seek a coordinated response to the global financial crisis," they said in a statement.

"There is one president at a time, so the president-elect asked us to represent him in receiving the views of these important partners. We also conveyed president-elect Obama's determination to continuing to work together on these challenges after he takes office in January."

Albright and Leach met with the delegations from 15 countries, the European Union and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. They were to brief Obama on the discussions. (dpa)