WASHINGTON - PRESIDENT George W. Bush said on Saturday he vowed to leaders of the world's biggest economies that the United States would enjoy a 'seamless' transition to the new team of president-elect Barack Obama.

'I told the leaders this: that president-elect Obama's transition team has been fully briefed on what we intended to do here at this meeting,' Mr Bush told reporters after an economic crisis summit of the Group of 20 nations.

'I told them that we will work tirelessly to make sure the transition between my administration and his administration is seamless,' he said.

'I told them that I hope he succeeds.'

Mr Obama, who takes office on Jan 20, stayed away from the Washington summit and the Democrat is not bound to implement commitments made on Saturday by Mr Bush.

At the conclusion of the G20 meeting a top Bush aide was to promptly brief Obama advisors, a senior administration official said.

'We have consulted very closely and at length with the representative on their team, in very, very detailed discussions, and we intend to sit down with members of their team to give a debrief on the summit,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

On Mr Obama's behalf, former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and ex-Republican lawmaker Jim Leach held a flurry of contact meetings on Saturday with the G20 delegations including with Brazil, Britain, China, Germany and Japan.

The pair said in a statement that they 'held constructive meetings on behalf of president-elect Obama and vice president-elect (Joseph) Biden' with delegations from 15 countries plus the European Commission, as well as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki moon.

'We also conveyed president-elect Obama's determination to continuing to work together on these challenges after he takes office in January,' they said, adding that they would brief Mr Obama and Mr Biden at the conclusion of their meetings.

In the Democratic Party's weekly radio address, Mr Obama said the US economy was already in 'recession' and welcomed Mr Bush's convening the summit 'because our global economic crisis requires a coordinated global response.'

The Republican Bush said of his fellow G20 leaders from the major industrialised powers, along with big developing nations such as China and Russia, that 'it was good for them to hear' about a smooth transition process.

'Even though we are from different political parties, that I believe it's in our country's interest that he succeeds,' the outgoing president said of Mr Obama. -- AFP