WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pledged Tuesday to leave "no stone unturned" in her quest for a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal by Jan 20 when President George W Bush steps down. As time draws near "for the end of this administration, I still believe that we must make every effort in the time that we have to lay this foundation for peace," Rice told a conference on Palestinian business and investment. "And that still means that we must do everything that we can with the negotiating partners to get the negotiating partners to get to the Annapolis solution," said Rice, flanked by Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad. Bush and Rice hosted a peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland in November last year that launched the first serious Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in seven years " with the goal of a peace agreement by the end of the administration. "And that would mean to find an agreement by these parties by the end of the year," Rice told the conference sponsored by US Chamber of Commerce and attended by around 150 people. "There is a hard road ahead, but if we do not try we will certainly not succeed," Rice told the conference aimed at providing the economic underpinnings of peace. She told potential investors in the Palestinian economy that she would do everything possible to create the political framework for peace in return for the business risk she was asking them to take. "Know too that until that moment when I leave office I will leave no stone unturned to see if we can finally resolve this conflict between peoples," Rice told them. In a speech after Rice, Fayyad said he wanted to "celebrate the power of partnership," including that between the public and private sectors. "We are now beginning to witness positive facts on the ground," he said adding that "reinforces for us the fact we are on the right track." Fayyad, who was praised by Rice for his economic and other reforms, said the Palestinians needed to continue on the path of greater responsibility for their own future. The Palestinians "must try to position ourselves to take advantage of the enormous debt of good will of the international community, especially of the United States," he said. He said it was also good business sense to invest in the Palestinian future. "This is not about making the occupation work better, this is about ending it," Fayyad said, drawing a standing ovation.