HANOI, August 4, 2008 (AFP) - Swiss President Pascal Couchepin met Vietnamese leaders Monday on the second day of a three-day visit during which both sides were due to sign a university cooperation agreement.

Couchepin, after talks in the capital Hanoi with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Minh Triet, said he wished to 'further promote ties with Vietnam, especially in education and science.'

The Swiss president -- who was on his first visit to Vietnam as head of state, en route to the Beijing Olympics -- was also due to meet Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh.

Both sides were Tuesday due to sign a pact on exchanging students and lecturers between Geneva University and Lausanne's Institute of Technology, and Hanoi National University and the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology.

Two-way trade between Switzerland and Vietnam reached 1.25 billion dollars in 2007 and rose to 1.84 billion dollars in the first half of this year, Swiss ambassador Jean-Hubert Lebet said, according to the Vietnam Investment Review.

Vietnam has received 95.6 million dollars in Swiss Overseas Development Assistance, including 50 million dollars of non-refundable aid, the report said.