[And of course, different governments hiding their access to alien technology gave them advantage over one another, hence the secret UN fights.] Humans were already moving through the Early Space Age, and as I implied, aliens had been dropping by on a regular basis for some time. Some as tourists, some for smuggling jobs—galactic law decrees that you can't trade with or take resources from species that haven't entered the galactic playing field—and more than a few to invade.

With human civilisation at the generally accepted point of introduction, the other galactic powers decided it was about time they make these things official, before humanity started blundering around into delicate balances of power that would make the most complex geopolitical configurations look like child's play. Acturans tend to have an eye for profit, so they stepped in and got themselves the position. The organisations that had been dealing with aliens prior had familiarity with Acturans and considered them acceptable for first contant. And once that was through, all those rich Earthly resources were allowed into the galactic market, with Acturans first to make the claim for them.

I believe the public statements declared they wanted to welcome Earth into the realm of responsible space travel and offer a mutual exchange of knowledge and ideas.