The Federation of Asian Chemical Societies was originally proposed by UNESCO to the countries in the Asian region which in UNESCO terms, covers an area from New Zealand to Iran. The formation of FACS was heralded as the beginning of a new era of regional cooperation amongst chemical societies and chemists themselves in the Asian Region. "The main objective of the Federation is to promote regional cooperation in Asia between non-profit making learned societies in the field of chemistry whose membership consists of individual qualified chemists with a view to promote the advancement of chemistry. It seeks to cooperate with regional and international organisations and to act as a channel of communication for such organisations and to avoid overlap with them on projects initiated by itself or by them." from FACS Newsletter, No. 1/1988, p. 4.

Administration:General Assembly and Executive Committee.
The General Assembly is the governing body of the FACS. It consists of one representative from each of the societies belonging to the Federation. The General Assembly meets every two years, and assemblies are usually held in conjunction with major chemistry conferences. Incoming Presidents undertake the responsibility to host major chemical conference in their countries to coincide with the General Assembly. The functions of the General assembly are to to decide on activities and matters connected with the work of the Federation and to provide directive to the Executive Committee of the FACS for execution of policies. The General Assembly in 1979, elected the first President, the President-elect, the Secretary General and the members. Since then, every two years, the President-elect, the Secretary General and the members have been elected. The Treasurer and the Editor of the FACS Newsletter are appointed by the Executive Committee. The responsibility of carrying out the decisions of the General Assembly rests with the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee appoints the chairmen of the working groups and reports on its activities to the General Assembly. The Executive Committee usually meets twice a year in different countries. There is no membership fee for members of the FACS, but each member society makes a voluntary contribution of US$100 to US$500 annually.
The Working Groups constituted by the FACS have assisted in the organisation of several regional meetings, as well as the compilation of status reports. FACS working groups to 1989 are: Book on the development of Chemistry in Asia; Chemical Education; Chemistry and Environment; Professional Affairs; Food Chemistry; Instrumentation; Chemistry and Industry.

Joint Projects with other organisations: The Asian Network on Analytical and Inorganic Chemistry (ANIAC) was established in 1985 as a joint project of FACS and UNESCO. ANIAC has sponsored a number of activities through UNESCO support, such as seminars, workshops, training courses and conferences.

Associated Projects with other organisations also include association and participation in regional seminars and conferences, hosted by such groups as Institute Kimia Malaysia, Institute of Chemistry, Ceylon, Iraqi Chemical Society, RACI, Singapore National Institute of Chemistry.

The FACS Newsletter is Published Semi-annually. The first edition was brought out as a circular in 1980. In 1981 it became a printed, published magazine. Dr M. Mohinder Singh has been the editor of the Newsletter since 1981.

International relations: FAS receives strong support from UNESCO through the activities of ANIAC. FACS also receives support from COSTED which has co-sponsored many of the seminars, conferences, workhsops, etc organised by FACS. FAS became an Associate member of International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry - IUPAC in 1981. FAS also is actively linked with the Federation of European Chemical Societies and the American Chemical Society.

See FACS Newsletter No. 1/1988, pp. 3 - 7, "The Federation of Asian Chemical Societies: Its fromation, administration and activities (a historical review)", by Dr. M. Mohinder Singh (Malaysia) and Prof. D.P. Chakraborty (India), for dates and details of FAS administration and activities.

FACS Office Bearers:
1979 - 1981 President - Professor Kamchorn Manunapichu. Secretary General and Treasurer - Dr. P. Wilairat (Thailand).
1981 - 1983 President - Tan Sri Dr. B.C. Sekhar. Secretary General and Treasurer Dr. M. Mohinder Singh (Malaysia).
1983 - 1985 President - Prof. Mahdi H. Hnoosh. Secretary General - Prof. Numan Al-Naimi (Iraq). Treasurer - Dr Sim Kang Yeow (Singapore).
1985 - 1987 President - Prof. H.H. Huang. Secretary General and Treasurer - Ass. Prof. Sim Kang Yeow (Singapore).
1987 - 1989 President - Prof. Sang Up Choi. Secretary General -Prof. Chang Hwan Kim (Korea). Treasurer - Ass. Prof. Sim Kang Yeow (Singapore).
1989 - 1991 President - Dr T. Spurling. Secretary General - Dr B.N. Noller (Australia). Treasurer - Dr P. Marriot (Australia).