Vendors at Laqere market in Nasinu have taken a formal step to turn informal trade into a coordinated business venture with the creation of the Laqere iTaukei Market Vendors Taxis and Tours Investment Cooperative Limited (LIMVTTCL). The cooperative’s registration certificate was handed over by the Nasinu Town Council at the market last week, a move local officials described as a milestone in community-led economic transformation.
Felix Magnus, acting chief executive officer and executive chairman of the Nasinu Town Council, said the certificate signals more than legal recognition. “This certificate is more than a document, it is a covenant of shared vision, discipline and collective progress,” he told members at the handover. Magnus urged cooperative members to prioritise unity, accountability and strong work ethics, saying sustainable success depends on shifting from individual effort to collective wealth creation.
Alongside the registration, the council confirmed approval for a dedicated taxi base to be owned and managed by LIMVTTCL. Magnus said the taxi base is expected to strengthen members’ income streams, improve service coordination and widen market access — practical benefits that could make vendor businesses more scalable and reliable for customers. The cooperative model also aims to pool resources and share operational risks among members, opening opportunities that individual vendors might struggle to reach alone.
Iosefo Koroidimuri, director and registrar of cooperatives, framed the move within iTaukei social traditions, linking modern cooperative structures to the customary practice of solesolevaki — collective labour and mutual obligation. “The cooperative model is not new to us; it reflects who we are as a people,” Koroidimuri said. He underlined the urgent need to lift iTaukei participation in the formal economy, noting that iTaukei-owned enterprises currently make up a small proportion of registered businesses in Fiji.
The formation of LIMVTTCL comes as national efforts to improve access to finance and formalisation for micro, small and medium enterprises are gathering pace. Earlier initiatives include the government’s recent Request for Proposal to establish a peer-to-peer lending platform aimed at MSMEs, and ongoing programmes to widen finance access for women entrepreneurs. Local cooperative development is likely to complement these broader policies by providing an organisational vehicle for vendors to better access services, credit and markets.
For Laqere market traders, the immediate task is organisational: finalising cooperative governance, agreeing how the taxi base will be established and managed, and translating registration into income-generating activity. Council approval for the taxi base provides a tangible early asset and revenue stream, but operational success will depend on the cooperative’s ability to maintain discipline, transparency and member participation — themes stressed by both Magnus and Koroidimuri.
If LIMVTTCL can convert the symbolic milestone of registration into effective day-to-day management and coordinated services, it could serve as a model for other market-based enterprises seeking to move from subsistence trading to structured, community-owned business ventures across Fiji.
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