Don't ask me what sort of drug-induced stream-of-consciousness rabbit hole got me to this epiphany but....
E.T.'s species almost has to be the most technology-advanced species in the universe.
Star Wars takes place in "a galaxy far-far away". All the stories take place within that galaxy. I believe that all Star Trek stories take place in our galaxy. Even with light-speed or warp engines, travel between galaxies is just orders-of-magnitude too far/long to undertake - or so everything seems to indicate.
However, E.T.'s species is seen as part of the Republic in The Phantom Menace. But they obviously found a way to traverse the vast distance between the Star Wars galaxy and ours. I don't think any other species has been able to do that.
Food for thought....