The Input-Output (I-O) table is now universally accepted as an effective analytical tool for the conduct of in-depth socio-economic as well as environmental studies, whether national or regional. The reason for its being widely used is because of its capability, in a simple compacted manner, to unravel the interwoven structural interdependent relations existing in an economy and the ability to translate these economic interdependencies into empirical analysis.

The construction therefore of an I-O Account as an integrated sub-account of the country's National Accounts could not be undermined. While the GDP periodically provides the aggregative measures of economic development, its usefulness as an effective analytical database for translating development objectives into specific programs and projects is quite limited. Knowledge and understanding of the economy's structure in all its details thus become an indispensable input in economic planning and policy formulation. And this type of technical information could only be retrieved through the compilation of I-O tables.

This paper, which deals with an economic assessment based on single country or intra-national I-O tables available provides therefore the technical insights into how the proposed research project shall be initiated and pursued. And this can be done by looking first at the I-O data of each country in the Region.