A total of five students are representing Cyprus for the first time at the International Economics Olympiad, which started yesterday in Hong Kong and will conclude on July 31. This participation is the result of an initiative by the Department of Finance, Accounting, and Management Science of the School of Business and Economics at CUT (Cyprus University of Technology).

According to a university announcement, this initiative, led by the Department and Associate Professor of Finance, Panagiotis Ch. Andreou, involved organizing a nationwide competition to select the five students from private and public high schools across Cyprus to represent the country at the Olympiad.

"The organization of the nationwide competition and Cyprus’s participation in the International Economics Olympiad highlights the importance of financial literacy among our youth," the announcement added. It also emphasized that it "contributes to the broadening of the financial literacy agenda promoted by the Department since 2016."

The first step was the nationwide competition "Manage Your Finances Smartly, Build Your Future Wisely," in which students from private and public high schools in Cyprus participated. The final team selection process involved three stages, including written exams, attending seminars, and presenting a business proposal.

After the final phase of the national competition, the students chosen to represent Cyprus at the International Economics Olympiad were Andreas Panayiotou (Kykkos High School Paphos), Chryssostomos Papamiltiadou (Giannakis Taliotis High School Geroskipou), Nikiforos Katsouras (Archbishop Makarios III High School Dasoupoli), and Ekaterina Michailova and Neil Laschanka (IMS Private School Limassol).

The students who participated in the final selection process were awarded at the award ceremony for the top students of the School of Business and Economics on June 21. An honorary award was given to Andreas Panayiotou from Kykkos High School, who achieved the highest score.