On behalf of the Local Organizing Committee, I am delighted to welcome you to this, the 17th International Input-Output Conference of the International Input-Output Association.

The Local Organizing Committee at the Department of Economics,
School of Economics, Business and Accountancy, at the University of São Paulo (USP) is proud to host the 17th International Input-Output Conference for the first time in Brazil. A team of professors and researchers throughout Brazil has worked hard to put together a quality program, and the support team at USP has been doing a superb job to make sure that this will be an event to remember.

São Paulo is one of the largest cities in the world, with over 18 million people in its metropolitan area. It hosts around 15% of Brazilian GDP and is the heart of the Brazilian economy. It is metropolitan in nature, with a diversified population, composed of Italians, Germans, Japanese (the largest community outside Japan), Lebanese, Chinese, Koreans, Spaniards and, of course, Portuguese.

USP is considered to be the most important Brazilian University. Its scientific production amounts to 28% of the whole production in Brazil, placing USP among the top three higher-education institutions in Latin America and among the top 200 in the world (The Times Higher Education Supplement).

The Department of Economics at USP currently has around one thousand undergraduate and graduate students who enjoy the privilege of having a complete university facility at their disposal with no tuition fees. They make a highly qualified student body as a result of the highly competitive entrance selection process. Students at the Department of Economics have also at their disposal first-rate faculty: more than 70 professors holding a Ph.D., most of them obtained abroad at leading universities.

With around 250 papers submitted by 430 authors and coauthors from 48 different countries, of which 162 papers were chosen for presentation, it is possible to forecast that this will be a stimulating meeting with quality papers and debates, making it possible to go from data discussions, passing through advances in theory, to culminate into Leontief´s goal of having a better understanding of the economic, social, environmental and political reality of the World that we live.

I do hope that you could share with us the high hopes of this meeting and at the same time, also share a little of the natural beauties of Brazil.