The Gauteng Economic Development Agency has attracted cumulative investment to the value of more than R 5.1 billion to Gauteng and personal incomes have risen close to 76 percent in the six years since the millennium, MEC for Finance and Economic Affairs Paul Mashatile has said. Mashitile said it was encouraging that the number of people living below the poverty line has declined from 8.4% in 2001 to 7.3% in 2002 and that Gauteng's average per-capita income grew significantly from R28 962 in 2000 to R50 911 in 2006, an increase of 75.8%.

He added that a total of 462 000 new jobs were created in the Gauteng economy between March 2002 and March 2006. Mashitile said he believes that provincial economic growth will reach 6% this year which places the province within reach of growing the provincial economy at a rate of 8 percent by 2014, and contributing to the national goal of halving poverty and unemployment by 2014.