EFI-Supported Student Takes 1st Place at the Economics Olympiad

From Almaty to Ancient Olympia: Batyrkhan’s remarkable story

Seventeen-year-old Batyrkhan Mukhtarkhan has won the International Final Round of the Economics Olympiad.

The student from Kazakhstan has achieved something remarkable: winning the Economics Olympiad International Final in Greece for the second consecutive year.

But Batyrkhan’s achievement is about much more than winning. His story is part of a bigger EFI story — one shared this year by 55 young people from 12 EFI partner countries who came together at the International Final in Greece.

More than a competition

Earlier this year, Batyrkhan joined other students at EFI’s regional Central Asia Economics Olympiad Bootcamp in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The Central Asia bootcamp is part of EFI’s wider program of regional bootcamps, helping students across our partner countries prepare for the International Final Round.

The regional bootcamp gives students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of economics while sharing the experience with other young people from across the region.

Students from different countries learn together, exchange ideas and experiences, form friendships and gain confidence — experiences that reach well beyond the classroom.

55 students. 12 EFI partner countries. One shared experience.

Batyrkhan may have taken the top prize, but his was one of 55 individual stories from across EFI’s partner countries represented in Greece this summer.

And there was much to celebrate.

EFI students achieved an outstanding six medals across five partner countries: gold for Kazakhstan, silver for Bosnia & Herzegovina, bronze medals for Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, and two bronze medals for Uzbekistan.

We are immensely proud of those achievements. But the medals tell only part of the story.

Each of those 55 students brought their own experiences and hopes for the future. In Greece, they had the opportunity to learn alongside one another, exchange ideas, form friendships and share an international experience together.

The medals are a wonderful recognition of achievement. But beyond the results, we see something equally important: young people growing in knowledge and confidence, developing new perspectives and discovering what they are capable of.

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